Youngblood

Starring: Rob Lowe, Cynthia Gibb, Patrick Swayze, Ed Lauter, Jim Youngs, George J. Finn, Fionnula Flanagan, Keanu Reeves
Directed by: Peter Markle
Rating: R
Genre: Drama, Romance, Sport
1986

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A talented young hockey player (Rob Lowe) joins a Canadian team, but struggles to adapt to the brutality of the game.

Review:

Tim: I have to say, I enjoyed Youngblood. It doesn't have enough to rank near the top tier of hockey movies, but it was surprisingly effective. It feels a bit dated 35 years after its initial release, but that shouldn't impact our view of the film too much. It feels like a perfectly acceptable mid-80s piece of entertainment. I liked the movie.

The film does a good job of establishing our protagonist, Dean Youngblood. He's a talented but young hockey player who works to surmount the challenges in front of him to make it in the world of violent, unforgiving Canadian hockey. This approach makes the movie a bit of a coming-of-age story, as well as a fish-out-of-water one. We grow to care about Youngblood and we want to see him succeed against the obstacles in front of him. The film does a good job of clarifying and putting a face to these obstacles- namely, a stubborn coach who limits his playing time because Youngblood is dating his daughter, and a gritty brawler who fights more than he plays hockey (and Youngblood took his spot on the team). The script was solid and director Peter Markle does an effective job of laying this all out. The stakes are clear for us, which allows us to stay focused on the action and drama on screen.

Rob Lowe does a good job as Youngblood. He's charismatic enough to win us over to his side and Lowe gives a physical enough performance that we can mostly believe him in this role. Lowe hasn't had the kind of career he probably should have, but you can see there's definitely talent there in this earlier role of his. He makes a strong protagonist, he's likable, and he connects well with the audience. He doesn't make the likeliest hockey player, but he wins us over. Cynthia Gibb did a great job as his love interest. I wish her character had a bit more depth to her, but Gibb infuses the role with youthful energy and charm and she makes a large impact on the film. She doesn't quite break out of the "love interest" box, but she does give her character a bit more identity than you might have expected. She was absolutely critical to the film. It was terrific seeing Patrick Swayze in his supporting role. Swayze brings such intensity to the role, you wish he had a bigger part. He makes an outsized contribution to the film. I was amazed at how his character of Sutton really mattered, even though he doesn't get a ton of screen time. Swayze uses every minute to make his character memorable and the movie is better for it. Ed Lauter is terrific as the hard-nosed coach. It's the perfect kind of role for him and his demeanor, his energy, the solidity of his performance all work exceptionally well. George J. Finn is imposing in his over-the-top role. Fionnula Flanagan adds a strong, memorable supporting performance. It was also fun seeing Keanu Reeves in a very small supporting role. He's not exactly good in it and doesn't make much of a difference to the film, but it was stunning to me to think that this young kid would go on to have the most successful career of anyone in the film. Hollywood is wild.

The movie does a good job of balancing hockey action with drama. We get quite a few hockey scenes and they're more than serviceable. Small scale hockey operations like this (especially in the past) could be so cinematic. The highlighted role of violence, the looseness of the refereeing, it creates this dangerous atmosphere that is just so fun to watch on screen. The movie does a good job of developing its characters so that when the hockey scenes come, they advance the personal storylines that had already been established.

Now, as much as I do like this movie, there are some obvious flaws. It's hard to take the overall story seriously. It seems like many decisions were made for entertainment purposes only, and logic and believability get thrown out the window some. One of the chief complaints here comes towards the end, after a montage sequence. It was definitely inspired from the time period, but I had to laugh considering how much Youngblood grew and learned during that montage, when the timeframe in real life was incredibly short. It just didn't track logically. The movie asks us to suspend disbelief a bit too much for a hockey film. There's not a lot of restraint here, either. George J. Finn wasn't much interested in subtlety in his performance and his actions get ratcheted up for dramatic purposes, to the point where it almost feels ridiculous. Again, you just have to go with it.

So yes, the film is flawed. But, Youngblood is still an entertaining hockey movie that finds the right balance between the sports scenes and the human ones. I had a fun time watching this movie and it's one I would absolutely recommend to others, even today.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Slap Shot