Maurice Richard (2005)

User Rating:

8.0/10   

Director:

Charles Binamé

Writer:

Ken Scott (writer)

Release Date:

30 November 2007 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Drama | Sport

Plot:

A story about Quebec's most famous hockey player, Maurice "The Rocket" Richard, focusing on the struggles of a French Canadian in the National Hockey League dominated by Anglophones.

Plot Keywords:

Hockey | Suspension | Riot | 1930s | Montreal Canadiens

Awards:

12 wins & 20 nominations

Cast

Sean Avery	...	Bob Dill
Michel Barrette	...	Père Norchet
Pat Bragoli	...	Hockey player
Rick Bramucci	...	Bodyguard
Tony Calabretta	...	Frank Selke
Normand Chouinard	...	Michel Normandin
Philip Craig	...	Tommy Gorman
Larry Day	...	Boston Cop #1
Christian De Blois	...	Hockey player
Simon Deblois	...	Hockey player
Tedd Dillon	...	Clarence Campbell
André-Sébastien Dorion	...	Referee
Paul Doucet	...	Camil Desroches
Pascal Dupuis	...	Milt Schmidt
Roy Dupuis	...	Maurice Richard
René Gagnon
Benoît Girard	...	Paul St-Georges
Rémy Girard	...	Tony Bergeron
Terry Haig	...	Dr. Walter McKay
Tyler Hall	...	Murph Chamberlain
Jason Hamilton	...	Hockey player
Serge Houde	...	Conn Smythe
Dany Hubert	...	New-York Rangers / Boston Bruins player
Mario Jean	...	Paul Stuart
François Langlois-Vallières	...	Maurice Richard à 16 ans
Ian Laperrière	...	Bernard 'Boom Boom' Geoffrion
Diane Lavallée	...	Alice Norchet
Julie LeBreton	...	Lucille Richard
Vincent Lecavalier	...	Jean Beliveau
Pierre-François Legendre	...	Georges Norchet
John Maclaren	...	Anglophone Journalist
Stephen McHattie	...	Dick Irvin
Mathieu Morin	...	Referee
Noel Olivier	...	New-York Rangers / Boston Bruins player
Bruno Ouellet-Fillion
Steve Petitpas	...	Referee
Stéphane Quintal	...	Dollard St-Laurent
Mike Ricci	...	Elmer Lach
Amélie Richer	...	Lucille Norchet
Sebastien Roberts	...	Bob Fillion
Patrice Robitaille	...	Émile "Butch" Bouchard
Charles Rooke	...	New York Rangers player (James "Kilby" MacDonald
Howard Rosenstein	...	Ken Reardon
Philippe Sauvé	...	Jim Henry
Olivier St-Cyr	...	Hockey player
Mylène St-Sauveur	...	Irma Daigle
Marc Tanguay	...	Referee
Randy Thomas	...	Hector "Toe" Blake
Eric Vignault	...	Montreal Canadiens hockey player
Allen Zarnett	...	Henchman

Also Known As:

The Rocket (Canada: English title) (new title)

MPAA:

Rated PG for rough sports action including fighting, some bloody images, some language and historical smoking throughout.

Runtime:

124 min | Canada:124 min (Québec)

Country:

Canada

Language:

English | French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Certification:

Finland:K-11 | Canada:G (Quebec) | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Colisée Pepsi, Québec City, Québec, Canada

Company:

Cinémaginaire Inc.

Trivia:

Roy Dupuis also played the part of Maurice Richard in an episode of Heritage Minutes - a series of short sixty-second films depicting events or characters from Canadian history.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: In the shaving scene which takes place in the mid-1950's Dupuis (as Richard) is using a safety razor that hadn't yet been invented - it wouldn't be invented and marketed until about 1963. The razor has a numbered dial, which the film shows in close-up, round its handle; this dial changed the spacing between the razor blade and the head of the shaver; safety razors in the 50's, and earlier, did not have this space-setting dial feature.

Quotes:

Dick Irvin: Richard, people are saying you're a waste of money. A WASTE OF MONEY... you're playing tonight.

Movie Connections:

Features The Sweater (1980)

The Man behind the legend.

Maurice Richard is a very good film about one of the most important Canadian athletes ever. The film addresses many issues concerning the famous Montreal riot, following a major penalty given to Richard just a few days before the beginning of the play-offs, and the "revolution tranquille" ignitor.

But this splendid film relates the story of an underdog player. His rise to hero and finally to that of a legend. It feels somewhat epic. The challenges Maurice faces are easy to relate to. You truly feel his angst has he's pushed around, beaten and bloodied. But still manages to overcome these problems and eventually becomes a symbol for every underdog who has ever dreamt of reaching the unreachable.

Maurice Richard isn't just a good quebecois film. It's simply a good film. Worth seeing.