I just finished watching Poor Boy's Game. It starts off with a fantastic, interesting premise - Donnie (Rossif Sutherland) goes to prison as a young offender for beating a young black man to the point that he is subsequently permanently mentally disabled. Ten years down the road, George (Danny Glover) the father of this disabled boy and Donnie cross paths again when Donnie gets out of prison. Sounds pretty good right? Well, a great premise just degenerates into a convoluted story that essentially gets lost in whatever point the movie is trying to make.
The story becomes fairly unbelievable when a black boxer, Ossie Paris (Flex Alexander) decides to enter into a grudge match following Donnie's 10 year stint in prison. Ossie was apparently friends with the disabled teenager prior to the assault. For some unexplained reason, Donnie's posse and Ossie's posse get into an inter-racial war eventually resulting in the murder of Donnie's family member Keith Rose (Greg Bryk) after he is involved in burning down the local black church. The movie culminates in a somewhat cheesy boxing ring showdown between Ossie and Donnie in which the handicapped guy gets hit with a chair.
So what makes this movie so unbelievable? Well first off, it is set in Halifax, Canada. Enough said there. The worst part of the plot is the fact that George (Danny Glover) decides to become Donnie's boxing coach... remember that George is the father of the kid Donnie beat into retardation 10 years prior. There is actually a fairly large attempt to cover up this glaring plothole throughout the film. For instance - When Donnie first enters the boxing gym, George repeatedly says to Donnie "I'm not doing this for you." There is also another scene when Donnie's posse is riding in a vehicle and Keith Rose keeps repeating 'George is coaching you - that's f**ked up.' So at least they tried to address it...
As for any sort of thematic coherence, don't look for it here. Just so you are aware:
1) Racism is bad 2) Redemption 3) People change over time 4) Don't judge a book by its cover 5) We are all really the same deep down inside
Glover, Sutherland, and Regan particularly deserve credit for lending credibility to a fairly bizarre plot line. Their performances really make this movie worth watching. I recommend this movie if you've got some time to kill. Shut off your brain and let the above average acting by these three cancel out the sub-par script. If you like sappy feel good movies that keep a quick tempo, you might also enjoy this movie.
The story becomes fairly unbelievable when a black boxer, Ossie Paris (Flex Alexander) decides to enter into a grudge match following Donnie's 10 year stint in prison. Ossie was apparently friends with the disabled teenager prior to the assault. For some unexplained reason, Donnie's posse and Ossie's posse get into an inter-racial war eventually resulting in the murder of Donnie's family member Keith Rose (Greg Bryk) after he is involved in burning down the local black church. The movie culminates in a somewhat cheesy boxing ring showdown between Ossie and Donnie in which the handicapped guy gets hit with a chair.
So what makes this movie so unbelievable? Well first off, it is set in Halifax, Canada. Enough said there. The worst part of the plot is the fact that George (Danny Glover) decides to become Donnie's boxing coach... remember that George is the father of the kid Donnie beat into retardation 10 years prior. There is actually a fairly large attempt to cover up this glaring plothole throughout the film. For instance - When Donnie first enters the boxing gym, George repeatedly says to Donnie "I'm not doing this for you." There is also another scene when Donnie's posse is riding in a vehicle and Keith Rose keeps repeating 'George is coaching you - that's f**ked up.' So at least they tried to address it...
As for any sort of thematic coherence, don't look for it here. Just so you are aware:
1) Racism is bad 2) Redemption 3) People change over time 4) Don't judge a book by its cover 5) We are all really the same deep down inside
Glover, Sutherland, and Regan particularly deserve credit for lending credibility to a fairly bizarre plot line. Their performances really make this movie worth watching. I recommend this movie if you've got some time to kill. Shut off your brain and let the above average acting by these three cancel out the sub-par script. If you like sappy feel good movies that keep a quick tempo, you might also enjoy this movie.