Still the Water

Hockey player returns to hometown to reconnect with his two brothers and old dad. Prince Edward Island is the beautiful location. Susan Rodgers directed. The score is guitars and folk lyrics. The mom died by the father's rage. The boys remember how they had to hide from their dad. He was a violent drunk. A singer girl from their Highschool days lives next to one brother who is in love with her. She says she had a son. He died? She's part of their family. A younger brother has a wife whose pregnant. The town embraces the returning son.

I always feel good after a Canadian film.

Still the Water, a Canadian independent film written and directed by Susan Rodgers, is a really compelling drama that weaves together a number of storylines: family conflict, sports, romance/lost love, regret, and so many more topics.

I really appreciate the music, all of the parts of the score fit the movie very well. The actors really drove the movie forward and kept the story moving.

I also really loved the scenery and cinematography, showing the sweeping shots of the small town as the characters move through it, almost making the town its own character in the film.

Really well done! Check this one out!

P. E. I.. Family trauma. Adultery. Folk music. Hockey. Did I mention P. E. I.?

Jordie is a hulking, awkward hockey player returning home as somewhat of a local legend with what appears to be a tail between his legs. There is a mysterious dark past, and plenty of tension, amplified by the crowded circumstance. Small town? Howsabout small island? There is no escaping the past. Many will require nothing more. This is your wheelhouse. Good for you. Sadly, for those willing to remove rose coloured islander glasses, this is not a great viewing experience.

Stark realism is great if it ain't clunky, and damn, this is clunky. Unspoken secrets only work if some loose lips let slip, otherwise there is but conjecture and eventually, ambivalence. When sibling matters come to a lobster boil, the drama is pretty anti-climactic. A fishing boat scene, which should be life and death serious, plays embarrassingly tepid. The brothers do come to inevitable blows, and it is on the ice (get it: "Still the Water"), but they are on the same team. Yes the same team. Needless to say, any hockey aficionado will have a problem or twelve with the shinny sequences. The footage is akin to a beer league scenario, not from supposed Memorial Cup skaters. This is John Candy as Darryl Sittler silly, except it ain't played for laughs. Who throws down their stick (several times, this is Jordy's go to move) when mad? No one. No one does. The stilted and perplexing road hockey scenes on bumpy dirt roads are excruciatingly awful. Was there not a hockey player available as consultant? Maybe a seven year old with a rudimentary knowledge of the sport? C'mon!

As a wrinkled cherry on a collapsing cake, the big finale happens at centre ice in a darkened, empty arena, because that is where everyone hangs out when they look for redemption. Sports clichés are back baby!

Is the film this bad? Perhaps not. The music is fine. The scenery lovely. It does capture that odd islander vibe. Perhaps anyone not privy to the nuances of hockey will squeeze some sort of entertainment from this picture. Stranger things have happened.

• hipCRANK.

Still the Water offers nothing new in its premise: another homecoming story with a down on his luck protagonist seeking help from family and friends.

On the plus side, the actors' performance makes it compelling and keeps you interested because you never know what happened years before that made them hate each other. When it's finally revealed, it's kind of a let down because many films work around the same subject.

But it's worth watching all the same for Ry Barret's excellent performance as the protagonist: a failed athlete that goes beyond stereotypes showing emotion instead of brute force (even if his appearance makes you think otherwise at first).

Also, the environments and cinematography in general are excellent, almost another character in itself.

Still the Water is highly reccomended to movie fans who seek drama, emotion and actors who really feel like human beings on screen.

I've decided to watch it because I live on PEI. This is a first movie for Susan Rogers, and I hope the second one will be better. As other people said, it is not easy to get what is going on, too many unnecessary accents with other things missing. On positive note - beautiful views, lovely music.