So much average

Good movie but grossly overrated

Don't listen to the negative reviews

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

I never thought anybody could dream up the combination of hockey and musical. Someone did, and Score: A Hockey musical is the result. And it is mostly what you can expect of such an unlikely combination. A cheesy, mildly entertaining string of musical numbers and a story without a trace of suspense.It was rather amusing to see the on ice choreographed dances, hockey players in full gear normally doesn't do that. Some lyrics were quite good as well. Too much, however, was just cheesy and nothing but tedious clichés.That the love story couldn't produce a spark to save the movies life was the tipping point though. A fun experiment, but don't expect anyone to try anytime soon again. It just doesn't work out.Score one for conventional stories...

Funded in part by the Canadian government film funding agency Telefilm Canada (which usually has no clue as to what movies would appeal to a mass audience), "Score: A Hockey Musical" was one of the few Canadian movies to get a theatrical release in Canada as large as a Hollywood movie. It was a disaster at the box office, no doubt because of the obvious fact that the premise - a hockey musical - sounded so stupid. So the movie instantly had one strike against it. But after watching the movie, more problems are evident, including:(1) The central figure of the movie, the sheltered teenager who becomes a big hockey star overnight, is a really bland and colorless individual. In fact, ALL the characters in this movie are shallow.(2) The central story of the movie is just a bunch of clichés we have seen countless times before, like the hero's female "best friend" who has a crush on him but he doesn't realize it etc. etc. etc.(3) The songs. ALL of the songs sound completely alike! That's bad enough, but what makes them even worse are the lyrics that sound like they were the first thing that popped into the songwriters' minds instead of being carefully polished, the awkward way the singers jam in extra words in a desperate attempt to say everything they want, plus the fact that none of the cast (except for Olivia Newton-John) is able to sing.(4) The cinematography. A light-hearted musical should be bright and colorful. Not this movie - it has the Canadian trademark of photography that is dark and murky.Maybe this would have worked as a two minute coming attractions spoof done for a sketch comedy TV show. But as a feature film, it is deadly. I'm glad I didn't pay to see this movie!

For a hockey musical, you get what you get. If you enjoy watching people sing about hockey and their personal problems, then you might enjoy this movie. Some of the songs sound sort of the same, just to warn you.The performances for the most part, are believable, and the hockey dancing choreography is pretty impressive. The lyrics are hit or miss - you'll probably either really like them or really hate them.The plot is really obvious - boy likes hockey, struggles with his own philosophy, and falls in love with a girl. You've probably seen movies like that before. If you liked them, you'll like this one too. I did, anyway.Walter Gretzky and Theo Fleury make cameos.

I've read a lot of reviews of this film out of its debut at TIFF, most of them negative, contrasting the film with the normal festival fare. And comparatively, no it's not an art house film, deeply layered, full of subtext or sparking deep thought later.I, however, wasn't expecting that. I was expecting a fun, corny musical about our nation's favourite past-time and that's exactly what I got. It's sweet, it made me laugh aloud several times, and I simply had a very good time watching the film.Noah Reid played the very likable male lead, Farley. He has a pleasant voice, looked natural on the ice, and nothing in his performance felt forced or fake. I hope to see him again. The best word I can think of to describe Allie MacDonald's girl-next-door character of Eve is winsome. I forgot that Stephen McHattie has done comedy before, so his turn as the owner of a pro-hockey team was surprising in how deft it is. Also enjoyable were Farley's coach and teammates, and George Stroumboulopoulos as the rink announcer.Really, the only weak link in performance was Olivia Newton-John who seemed too stiff for the character that she was portraying. And despite how great they were individually, there wasn't a lot of chemistry between Farley and Eve.The songs ran about fifty-fifty. Some were catchy and well-orchestrated. Some felt as though they had been written for an amateur musical.All-in-all, I think the movie gives you exactly what you expect when you go to see a movie called "Score: A Hockey Musical". It's enjoyable, and charming, and I would recommend it to musical and hockey fans alike.