YOUNGBLOOD

Youngblood traverses familiar territory of the sports drama genre, never digging deep enough into its themes that are meant to separate this story from other similar films, preventing this remake from making its mark, but with a rousing third act and a strong lead performance from Ashton James, it’s hard not to forgive the film for its tired clichés.

When it comes to sports dramas, audiences are used to seeing films covering sports such as football, soccer and baseball, but in recent years there has been a disproportionate number of films focused on hockey. It only seems fitting for Canadian cinema to bring audiences the latest hockey film, honouring both our nation’s beloved pastime and Canadian film talent in the remake of the Rob Lowe and Patrick Swazye starring 1986 sports drama. Reimaging the story with a modern day Canadian setting, incorporating moments of Indigenous representation and changing the main character to be a young black hockey player, the screenplay tries to elevate story of the 1986 film with some more timely thematic exploration, but despite a strong cast, the screenplay never mines its ideas enough to find the truly impactful sports drama Youngblood strives to be.

Whether it be based on a true story or fictional, the sports drama genre has its hallmarks: an underdog athlete trying to achieve greatness, a coach haunted by their past as an athlete, a romantic subplot, injuries, all culminating in an important game to mark the end of the season. All of this is present in Youngblood, as the story follows young hotshot Dean Youngblood as he begins playing for the Hamilton Bulldogs in hopes of making the National Hockey League draft while combating his explosive personality. Prone to fighting in a blink of an eye, the screenplay presents Dean’s short fuse temperament as part of his toxic masculinity, stemming back to his strained relationship with his father and his upbringing after the death of his mother. This strained parent child dynamic is mirrored in his coach’s relationship with his daughter, who Dean begins a budding romance with, but sadly the screenplay never explores these themes in a meaningful way. You see glimpses of Dean and his father’s troubled relationship, but you never get to see them have meaningful interactions to effectively develop the strain between them and build towards the cathartic moment between them that the film ends on, stifling any emotional resonance for viewers. Nor is any significant exploration of Dean’s toxic masculinity given as the screenplay only shows Dean’s violent outbursts without ever once showing any sort of exploration of his emotions and temper to help him grow into a stronger player.

Instead, the screenplay jumps around clichés of the genre from a coach reflecting on a decision from his athlete career he regrets, Dean’s rivalry with a player from another team who provokes him, Dean’s romance with the coach’s daughter, and his team captain’s injury that pushes Dean into the position to lead his team to victory. It’s all presented in an enjoyable way, but with no depth to any aspect of the story, it feels the screenplay is merely going through the motions without having anything of note to say. Even with the change in Dean from being a young white man in the 1986 film to a young black man and setting it in the context of Canadian culture, the screenplay fails to capitalize on any of the important themes of minority representation that it presents with the changes from the original film. All this ensures that by the time the credits begin rolling on Youngblood, the film feels like a missed remake opportunity that never justifies its contemporary setting or creative changes. Though, as the screenplay leans so heavily into the clichés of the sports coming of age drama and executes them effectively, it’s hard not to be entertained despite the film’s shortcomings.

Though, the bright spot of the film is Ashton James as Dean, as he gives a great performance. Capturing the full gambit of Dean’s personality, from the hot shot talented athlete on the rise, the young man with unresolved family history, to the outbursts of rage where Dean completely loses control of himself and turns into a terrifying individual, James never misses a beat with his compelling performance, one which will hopefully (and rightfully) catapult him into the next stage of his acting career. Blair Underwood is Blane, Dean’s father, capturing the same rage as Dean with a brutal judgement that sets the tone for their fractured relationship and inability to communicate with each other. Shawn Doyle brings a layered nuance to Coach Murray Chadwick, but is never given the ability to truly explore his character’s past and the impact it has on him coaching Dean due to the film’s shorter run time, Alexandra McDonald is charming as Jesse and creates an easy romantic connection with James, while Henri Richer-Picard is a solid addition to the film as Denis Sutton, the team captain. Aside from Underwood who is American, Youngblood showcases talented Canadian actors that even with the more restrictive screenplay that barely scratches the surface of the story at hand, still gives each actor their moment to shine.

While it is not going to go down in movie sports history as the best hockey film ever made, there is without question merits to this remake of Youngblood. The strong performances from the entire cast helps to elevate the surface level screenplay and adds emotional weight to this sports drama, even if with a screenplay more willing to dig deeper into the ideas it was playing with, this could have been a special film for all young Canadian hockey lovers. With the talented Ashton James delivering a great performance, it is hard not to be swept up by the rousing sports drama that Youngblood emulates, even if its potential to be something more meaningful and powerful is never fully achieved.