Evengyny Thanks for the memories!

Smartorhypo Highly Overrated But Still Good

CrawlerChunky In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Deanna There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

MartinHafer As an American living in the South, we generally don't know a ton about the history of hockey. Sure, we recently obtained hockey teams and I attend rather regularly, but I am a newcomer to the sport compared to Canadians and those living in old established hockey towns like New York, Boston and Chicago. So please understand that my review is mostly targeted for us 'outsiders'. I wanted to see this film because I love the sport and know only vaguely about Maurice Richard's career and nothing about him as a person. Interestingly, after seeing this film, I still know very, very little about him as a person and many of the important issues brought up in the film seem to have little context. So, for a person NOT weaned on hockey, you, too might feel a bit confused and lost about this film.The film is a bit episodic like most biopics. You see a tiny bit about Richard when he was a teen and then it jumps ahead to when he began his NHL career. Then, it bounces around a bit--spending a lot of time on his early career--then a jump to mid-career and then really nothing about the latter part of his career and life after hockey other than a few clips tossed in at the end. About his life, you see he has a couple kids, it appears that he loves his wife (though this is also oddly vague) and they show a lot of clips of his brother-in-law--though I failed to see the connection. Did he like or hate his brother-in-law? I dunno. But it was very, very strange that they never mentioned that he had two brothers who also played for the Canadians hockey club. Although one only briefly played with them, the other played for years for the club and was a HUGE star (nicknamed 'The Pocket Rocket')--but this was oddly omitted. Why focus so much on the brother-in-law who didn't even play and who seemed unimportant to Richard in the film?!In biographies, there is almost always some sort of controversy or obstacle to overcome. This is an almost unvarying formula. In the case of "The Rocket", the obstacles were players who deliberately targeted him on the ice as well as discrimination against the French-Canadian players. The latter, in particular, is an important topic--and one that most Americans don't even realize is or was an issue. I was struck by the fact that the coach on the Canadians didn't even speak French--even though the team played in French-Canada! This is interesting and I wanted to hear more about this--because if it's true*, it needs to be addressed. But, the film never said much apart that RICHARD thought it was a problem! So, was he a whiner or was there serious discrimination against French-speaking players then or now? The film didn't really answer that and I found this frustrating. Now it sounds like I hated this film--I didn't. The acting and shots of players playing hockey were very nice. And, I loved the soundtrack. But because I liked what I was seeing, it made what I did NOT see even more apparent. I think perhaps the film would have been better as a mini-series or at least by offering a bit more clarity to us non-Canadian viewers.*When I did an internet search about it, I found LOTS of websites that felt that CURRENTLY there is a lot of discrimination against French-speaking hockey players. They indicate that non-superstars have a hard time making it into Junior Hockey or the NHL. If this is the case, then it really needs to be addressed and a film like "The Rocket" could have paved the way for this. The statistics I found were NOT very encouraging for young French-Canadian players.

charbnoel-1 I saw the film of Maurice Rocket Richard only yesterday and like everybody, some most important scenes are missing, while few others do not follow the road. Though a lot less then those "clip-films" of to-day, this one is a good solid film but without continuous scenes. And in those years of 1940-1950, I sure think that the greatest of the great as a man and a hockey player should have said more about his situation and his fellows French-Canadian exploited and treated like baggage-wagon citizen on the ice (anglo payers calling him pea soup, damn Frenchmen etc.) and punished on his work (anglo bosses).The name "Canadian" instead of French-Canadian or Quebecers (not in use by that time), does mean he was a Canadian hero. Then, why the crowd at the Mapple Leaf Garden booing him instead of applauding? He was our number one hero, the whole Province of Québec whom he was its loud speaker by his will and courage of steel like we see in the film. The leading role by Roy Dupuis is so intense and powerful we forget the lacks during the film which interested me despite of that. I would have missed something not seeing this picture. Everyone should see the real story of a real French-Canadian hero.

ayiti10977 As a person of French descent as well as French Canadian this movie was the best sports movie i've ever seen better than Raging Bull i almost cried tears of heartfelt pride Maurice Richard is a cultural icon he allowed us to hold our heads really high and like Jackie Robinson he sparked a cultural revolution for Le Quebecois after years OF racial prejudice he was like a burning flame in the darkest of placesfor us he was our beacon from humble beginnings he rose to greatness so we to are able to risei can't really remember a time i didn't know about him and his legacy and what he meant to us as french people especially the riots of march 17th 1955 in Montreal and through out the Quebec province

rinny_summer I've just seen the movie at Ljubljana film festival and I'm charmed! As I'm not from North America the name of Maurice Richard to me actually never meant more than a name of trophy. After seeing "The rocket" it changed. It's easier to understand what his name meant and probably still means to French Canadians - not just to hockey fans. A humble man who loved the hockey and his family and suffered injustices until one day he started to change things. I liked acting as well as the scenery of forties and fifties. I can only recommend this movie to everyone who wants to know more about Maurice Richard, the way NHL was functioning that time and what kind of impact he had in Quebec province.