There are very few films in which I will yell at a screen in a theater. Very, very few. I couldn’t help myself. When a rival baits our naïve champion yet again, I actually found myself pleading, desperately, “DON’T REACT!!” Did he react? Of course he did. :SMH: I’m sorry; it’s downright impossible to root for a character who has no learning curve.
Dean Youngblood (Ashton James, but Wagner Shell III as Youngerblood) is a talented hockey player. Here’s the thing: he’s not THAT talented. Or, I should say, he’s not talented enough to justify special treatment … which becomes a key plot point when the kid is suspended for an entire year for reacting to a racist.
You probably need some background here. Dean is a hockey prodigy from Detroit. His father (Blair Underwood as The Great Santini) is a “lead with your fists” kind of guy, which -by the way- is awful advice for any Black American. (It’s awful advice for every American, tbh … but startlingly stupid under these circumstances.) Dean’s mother died when the kid was nine. She knew his talent and passion, but asked that he stay out of the penalty box. Dad gave him the message never to take shit from anybody, which, again, is a message you only give a child when you want him to turn out like Donald Trump. And dad had the last word,
This is a monumentally frustrating film, for whenever Dean Youngblood has the ability to “be the bigger man” and let his talent speak for him, he uses his fists instead. Following the suspension, he has a tryout for a minor league team … he gets into a fight. In his first game on that team, he gets into a fight, FROM THE BENCH. I’ve never seen a guy get set to the box from the bench. At the team party afterwards, he gets into a fight with a townie. I swear, I wouldn’t want this guy on my team entirely because he’s so goddamn stupid. I fully understand being Black in a white game is not easy, but you’re giving us nothing to work with, buddy.
Meanwhile, there’s a really bad romance to explore. Jessie Chadwick (Alexandra McDonald) is the coach’s 
daughter, which -for Lord knows what reason- Dean doesn’t figure out until he’s already embarrassed himself and privately trashed his coach. Don’t worry, they’ll have a bad relationship before long; I mean, who can’t resist a guy who makes terrible decisions on-and-off the ice?
Miserable protagonist. Miserable watch. And this is all a terrible shame because I’d love to see an honest depiction of racism in ice hockey, especially after the events of the Milan Olympics. [While there weren’t any reports of great racism in the games, the winning team was widely celebrated by American racists. Whether or not hockey truly explores questions of racism might have to wait for another Olympics.
There once was a hothead, Youngblood
Who def has some talent there, bud
His ability to score
Didn’t make us ignore
His head is entirely filled with crud
Rated PG-13, 104 Minutes
Director: Hubert Davis
Writer: Seneca Aaron, Josh Epstein, Peter Markle
Genre: Unnecessary remakes
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: You gotta love hockey enough to deal with a really shitty protagonist
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: “That’s a really shitty protagonist”
