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Monday, September 29, 2008

 

Men With Brooms by Robert Meland



I really enjoyed this movie written and directed by Paul Gross. He does a fabulous job of bringing the northern plains to life. In my experience most people have seen movies on football and basketball by this time in their lives, but how many of them have seen one about curling. I curled when I was younger and I never knew any movies that involved the sport had ever existed. The movie begins by showing an old man and his daughter out in a fishing boat looking for a missing curling stone. They find they stone amazingly in the bottom of a lake but shortly after that her father dies. In his dying will the old man leaves behind a plan to bring the family back together. This plan involves a game called curling. Everyone comes back to the funeral to pay respects to the man whom they all had loved and respected for so many years, including the Long Bay Curling Team. The deceased had coached this team many years ago when they almost won the Golden Broom. This is otherwise known as the Stanley Cup of Curling. The old man wants them to try again to win the title again in his name and when they do he wants his ashes to be sprinkled on the button (the bulls-eye in curling). It is hard to explain everything that is going on in this film because it would take me all day. Each person in the movie brings their own ingredients to the mix. The Old Coach had two daughters and a wife. One daughter was an astronaut (Julie) and the other was an alcoholic (Amy). They both were in love with the former star player of the curling team Chris Cutter. Then the team had three more members Neil, James, and Eddie. Neil is a dissatisfied mortician in a marriage that he cannot bare. Whereas, James is a trouble maker who is always drinking and getting into situations he should not be in. Finally, there is Eddie the dumb one who cannot get his wife pregnant no matter how hard he tries. This random group of characters comes together for an incredible story of how important family really is. This movie also shows us how different and alike cultures are in different parts of North America. I really enjoyed this film and would recommend it to anyone taking this class.


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