Score: A Hockey Musical (2010)

(On Cable TV, September 2021) There are films, good or bad, that just make you want to say, “Wow, that exists.”  So it is that Score: A Hockey Musical is exactly what it says — a hockey musical. A low-budget one, so don’t go about expecting extravagant choreography or polished singing — it simply aims to deliver on its title, and little more. The plot, if you must ask, has to do with a talented newcomer being discovered as a hockey sensation and becoming famous in the process, leading to a reappraisal of his values and how fame has corrupted them. In other words, near-exact transposition of the classical musical ur-plot about an unknown character becoming a singing sensation and losing touch with themselves. It’s moderate fun as long as you can skip the narrative contrivances. There are several, several cameos from circa-2010 Canadian celebrities from the musical and hockey fields. Writer-director Michael McGowan certainly has noble and patriotic intentions, but can’t rely on Golden-Age MGM’s depth of technical talent. Accordingly, the lyrics are obvious, the melodies somewhat boring, the singing talent not always up to the task and everything definitely lacks polish. Arguably more adept at evoking fun than being fun by itself, Score: A Hockey Musical is not a terrible watch, but it’s one that requires a good degree of Canadian indulgence in order to fully appreciate. Despite its flaws, I’m glad it exists.