Score: A Hockey Musical (2010)

Director:

Michael McGowan

Writer:

Michael McGowan (written by)

Release Date:

22 October 2010 (Canada)

Genre:

Musical

Plot:

A teenage hockey player becomes a national sensation.

Plot Keywords:

Hockey | Mouse | Accordion | Mother Son Relationship | Toronto

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

John McDermott	...	Himself
Noah Reid	...	Farley Gordon
Hawksley Workman	...	Gump
Dave Bidini	...	Rink Rat #1
Chris Smith	...	Rink Rat #2
Karl Campbell	...	Rink Rat #3
Thomas Mitchell	...	Darryl
Allie MacDonald	...	Eve
Olivia Newton-John	...	Hope Gordon
Marc Jordan	...	Edgar Gordon
Adrian David Lloyd	...	Junior (as Adrian Lloyd)
Stephen McHattie	...	Walt Acorn
Christopher Cusinato	...	Youn Edgar
John Pyper-Ferguson	...	Coach Donker
John Robinson	...	Ace
Dru Viergever	...	The Moose
Chris Ratz	...	Maurice
Miles Faber	...	Blades Player 1
Jordan Setacci	...	Blades Player 2
Ryan Gifford	...	Blades Player 3
Michael Cameron	...	Blades Player 4
Damien Lavergne	...	Blades Player 5
Andrew Pyro Chung	...	Blades Player 6 (as Andrew Chung)
Nelly Furtado	...	Claudette
K. Trevor Wilson	...	Fat Bellied Man
George Stroumboulopoulos	...	Arena Announcer
Randy Ganne	...	Referee
Evan Solomon	...	News Anchor
Brandon Firla	...	Don Mohan
Gianpaolo Venuta	...	Marco
Steve Kouleas	...	Sports Announcer
Wesley Morgan	...	Sensitive Player
Marc Trottier	...	Jean Luc Pierre Henri
Ryan Allen	...	Devil's Player #1
Troy Feldman	...	Devil's Player #2
Shawn C. Orr	...	Hockey Player (as Shawn Orr)
Paul O'Sullivan	...	Doctor
Walter Gretzky	...	Himself
Theo Fleury	...	Himself
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Michael Ferguson	...	Extra (uncredited)
Natalie Gauvreau	...	Puck Bunny (uncredited)
Misha Highstead	...	Puck Bunny (uncredited)
Genevieve Kang	...	Female Teen (uncredited)
Michael McNaughton	...	Opposing Teams (uncredited)
Colin Pitts	...	Bailey (uncredited)

Directed by
Michael McGowan

Writing credits
Michael McGowan		(written by)

Produced by
Jody Colero	....	executive producer
Avi Federgreen	....	producer
Richard Hanet	....	executive producer
Michael McGowan	....	producer
Nadia Tavazzani	....	associate producer

Original Music by
Jonathan Goldsmith

Cinematography by
Rudolf Blahacek		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Roderick Deogrades

Casting by
John Buchan
Jason Knight

Production Design by
Tamara Deverell

Art Direction by
Jason Graham

Set Decoration by
Peter Wilde

Costume Design by
Patrick Antosh

Makeup Department
Stacey Iseman	....	makeup artist
Marika Latorcai	....	makeup department head
James O'Reilly	....	assistant hair stylist
Josie Stewart	....	hair department head

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Neille Brockie	....	third assistant director
Karl Irvine	....	second assistant director
Lawrence Ng	....	assistant director
John Pace	....	first assistant director
Giselle Selim	....	trainee assistant director
Kristina Small	....	daily assistant director

Art Department
Ric Fernandez	....	construction coordinator
John Galbraith	....	scenic painter (as John Gailbraith)
Craig Grant	....	property master
David Gruer	....	lead set dresser
Andrew Hill	....	set dresser
Celeste Koon	....	art department trainee
Stephen J. MacDougall	....	set dresser
John Picciottoli	....	on-set dresser
Michael Smith	....	set dresser
Cindy Yetman	....	assistant property master

Sound Department
Sylvain Arseneault	....	sound recordist
Jenna Dalla Riva	....	foley recording assistant
Barry Gilmore	....	adr editor
Ryan Longo	....	sound assistant
Andy Malcolm	....	foley artist
David McCallum	....	supervising sound editor
Eric Putzer	....	boom operator
Lou Solakofski	....	sound re-recording mixer
Jane Tattersall	....	supervising sound editor
Robert Warchol	....	sound effects editor
Don White	....	foley recording mixer

Special Effects by
Derek Liscoumb	....	special effects coordinator

Visual Effects by
Mike Barber	....	visual effects editor
Tavia Charlton	....	visual effects producer
Dug Claxton	....	digital compositor
Jordan Flanagan	....	digital compositor
Matt Hansen	....	lead cg artist
Mary Holding	....	compositor
John Mather	....	visual effects artist
Kenneth Sales	....	digital compositor
Reuben Siboni	....	digital compositor
Daniel St-Amant	....	digital compositor
Tom Turnbull	....	visual effects supervisor (as Thomas Turnbull)
Chris Wallace	....	digital intermediate colourist

Stunts
Shawn C. Orr	....	stunt coordinator
Dave Van Zeyl	....	stunt rigger

Camera and Electrical Department
Blayne Badge	....	electrician
Scott Cowan	....	first assistant camera
Dennis Daigle	....	electrician
James Gordon	....	grip
Paul Howden	....	key grip
Jeremy Jemec	....	electrician
Sean Jordan	....	best boy
George Kerr	....	gaffer
Dino Laurenza	....	camera operator
Chris Livingstone	....	dolly grip
Rudolf Mammitzsch	....	second assistant camera
Julia Seidman	....	camera trainee
John Craig Steele	....	grip
Jack Studzienny	....	best boy grip
Ken Woroner	....	still photographer

Animation Department
Luke Murphy	....	animator

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Sheila Fitzpatrick	....	assistant costume designer
Elizabeth Mastrandrea	....	wardrobe supervisor
Erin Samaroo	....	wardrobe truck supervisor

Editorial Department
Kevin Downer	....	assistant digital intermediate editor
Emily Goode	....	trainee assistant editor
Lee Hughes	....	digital intermediate project manager
Rui Martins	....	digital dailies
Dave Muscat	....	assistant digital intermediate editor
Lorraine Samuel	....	post production supervisor
Anna Sofrygina	....	trainee assistant editor
Michelle Szemberg	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Alexander Andresen	....	composer: additional music
Barenaked Ladies	....	songs by
Jody Colero	....	music producer
Jody Colero	....	music supervisor
Marco DiFelice	....	composer: additional music
Marco DiFelice	....	music producer
Marc Jordan	....	songs by
Michael McGowan	....	lyrics by
Olivia Newton-John	....	songs by
Dan Parr	....	conductor
Benjamin Pinkerton	....	composer: additional music
Benjamin Pinkerton	....	composer: theme music
Jordan Setacci	....	chorus

Transportation Department
Rick Anglin	....	driver
Don Chan	....	transportation coordinator
John 'Jack' Coupland	....	driver: honeywagon
Glen McGugan	....	transportation captain
Chris Radley Walters	....	head driver
Grant Wilkins	....	driver

Other crew
Jill Carter	....	script supervisor
Jennifer Chovancek	....	assistant production coordinator
Catherine Crawford	....	assistant location manager
Ashleigh Gillan	....	stand-in
Kimberly Killam	....	production accountant
Rhea Lavery	....	first assistant accountant
Lyndsay Leahy	....	production assistant
Tom Mayclim	....	data wrangler
Marguerite Pigott	....	story editor
Boris Radivojevic	....	location production assistant
Sonia Terzyan	....	accounting clerk
Marlinda Walcott	....	production assistant
Alison Waxman	....	production coordinator
Eardley Wilmot	....	location manager
Amy Wright	....	choreographer

Production Companies

• Mongrel Media (presents)
• Mulmur Feed Company (as a Mulmur Feed Co. production)
• Téléfilm Canada (with the participation of)
• Ontario Media Development Corporation (OMDC) (with the participation of)
• Astral Media (with the participation of)
• Harold Greenberg Fund, The (with the participation of)
• Movie Network, The (TMN) (in association with)
• Movie Central (in association with)
• Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) (in association with)
• Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit (CPTC) (in association with)
• Ontario Film and Television Tax Credit, The (in association with)

Distributors

• Mongrel Media (2010) (Canada) (theatrical)
• Mongrel Media (2011) (Canada) (DVD)

Special Effects

• Storm FX

Other Companies

• Chapman/Leonard Studio Equipment  camera dollies
• Post Modern Sound  ADR recording facility
• Tattersall Sound  final cut pro system
• Tattersall Sound  post-production facilities
• Tattersall Sound  sound post-production
• Tattersall Sound  sound re-recording
• William F. White International  grip and lighting equipment

Also Known As:

"Score" - Canada (English title) (DVD box title)

Country:

Canada

Language:

English | Russian | Italian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Certification:

Canada:PG (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Ontario) | Canada:G (Québec)

Filming Locations:

Brampton, Ontario, Canada

Company:

Mongrel Media

Movie Connections:

Featured in "The Hour: Episode #7.24" (2010)

Soundtrack:

Time Stand Still

An embarrassment.

Farley Gordon, whom I kept confusing with Charlie Gordon from Flower for Algernon, is one of the most skilled hockey player ever to grace the rink. The trouble is that his parents are against team sports and it takes some convincing for him to get on a team. He dazzles everyone with his stick work and constant scoring technique.

Blah...I'm bored typing out the plot to the film already. Score: A Hockey Musical is a poor mix of bad writing and misguided talent. It's a sad attempt at being patriotic and cute. Blending the nation's favourite sport with song and dance numbers is walking a thin ice, to make matters worse the songs and lyrics are terrible. None of the songs are memorable and every single one sounds exactly the same. This is a feature production and it was outdone by a television show about vampires and demons ten years earlier.

Canadian actor Stephen McHattie shows up at the beginning and recruits the young kid. The character is made to seem like he is important and will be involved somewhat later on in the film. Nope, the character almost disappears other than some random appearance here and there for show. Maybe McHattie figured out what kind of film he was in and quickly tried to get out. The inclusion of Nelly Furtado is a joke and was just a way to help get more Canadian funds in the mix. Look everyone, we got a big Canadian singer in our musical, that means Telefilm can feed us more money.

The romance between the two lead characters is weak and uneven. Not once did I ever buy these two would fall in love, let alone were best friends since infancy. Separate, the actors do well enough, together they drown each other out. Bad chemistry leads to a boring and uninteresting film. The conflict on the ice is mostly about fighting and the hesitation that Gordon has to it. The team doesn't have an enemy team, though we are made to believe the first team they play will make some kind of appearance again. The team never seems to loose either, which makes us wonder where is the real conflict? Do I care if the kid doesn't want to fight? You have a hockey film here with no hockey. Where is the excitement? The drama? The thrills? Everything a hockey movie should have, it's missing here. Hockey takes a major backseat to the musical.

The musical numbers, as I stated before are boring, uninteresting and never catchy. Some of the lyrics are vomit worthy," Hockey without fighting is like Kraft Dinner without cheese/ It's still pasta, but the palate it won't please." Uhh.....what? These songs needed to be reworked over again before they made it past the script stage. The final game, is again, an afterthought to the last song of the film. If the film had concentrated a bit more on hockey and added some dramatic elements to it, it would have been a moderate success, instead of an utter failure.

As a Canadian and an aspiring Canadian filmmaker, films like this are not only an embarrassment, but it makes things harder for us. The film is jam packed with Canadian content to help get the funding needed. I get that, but please, make a good film. It all starts at the script stage and this is where the film should have stayed. I can only dream of the film I could have made with my film school colleagues, if I were given a fraction of the budget this had. The film looks great, but it's because of a film like this that we are more known for documentaries . Name some Canadian filmmakers that didn't go over to the states and make a career. Paul Gross is the most notable one, some small fare people like Don McKellar are nice but he is not a house hold name. Paul Gross is even a stretch. If you want to bring some kind of film industry to Canada from the States (which has sucked away most of our talent) then you have to stop making films like this.

This film claims to be a comedy, but it's not funny. It has comedic, dramatic and musical beats...it misses them all. This is a plea to those who produced this film, contact me. This is an open plea, give me a fraction of this budget and I'll give you a better movie. Sorry, but the truth hurts.