Now what happens when a young rich guy comes back into the
town he grew up in and ends up taking charge of a team of lovable
losers who must come together and learn how to be a team? Oh wait…you’ve seen
this before? What you saw was about hockey. Oh but that isn’t this, see this film
is about Lacrosse and a team of native American teenagers learning more about their
culture and the sport. This film is
called Crooked Arrows and yes it is essentially The Mighty Ducks in a different
setting but it still has some heart.
The film centers on Joe Logan, played by Brandon Routh, the
manager of the local casino on a Reservation. He needs to convince the tribal
council to let him expand the casino into more land so that he can build a
hospital for the tribe. His father, Ben, feels he has lost his way and the
council agrees to the Casino expansion as long as he does one thing his father
wishes. His father wants him to take over the Lacrosse team and coach them into
bring back honor to the team and community.
Over the course of the movie we learn more about Joe Logan
and his past as this great high school Lacrosse player. And Joe's past with the
current schoolteacher who was his high school girlfriend and his tense
relationship with his tribe and how he exploits their culture in the casino. All
the performances in this movie are all decent enough. To tell the truth movies
feels like something you watch on ABC family channel. I’m surprised that they
so closely used the structure of other films like The Mighty Ducks or The Bad NewsBears as much as they did. At times it really takes you out of the movie because you’re having this huge sense of movie déjà vu.
This movie overall isn’t really terrible but it isn’t great
either. Not enough that you want to sit in the theater for an hour and a half of your
nice spring day to see. It is nice see Native Americans portrayed in a positive
light and not as victims per se or drunk or addicts of some sort. It’s also a
decent enough family film, something kids might enjoy but really this can be
waited on for rental or Netflix in the future. Crooked Arrows might be one you should leave in the quiver.
