Breakaway is an enjoyably mediocre hockey comedy
B reakaway is a Canadian film that’s easy to dismiss but hard to be disappointed by. There’s no denying that the plot is predictable the dialogue laughable and the characters flat. But when it comes to sports films — especially those involving underdog amateur athletes — these qualities are the rule rather than the exception. Could anyone really be naive enough to think otherwise?
It’s certainly understandable to want more from this genre but Breakaway doesn’t pretend to offer this. It’s a modest film with much to be modest about but that’s preferable to ambitious big-budget sports films of no greater quality.
The film’s storyline is so familiar and formulaic it’s easy to imagine it being sketched out on a napkin. Rajveer Singh (Vinay Virmani) a mildly rebellious Indo-Canadian living in suburban Toronto has drawn his Sikh father Darvesh’s ire by ditching his turban and dropping out of university and further annoyed him with his passion for hockey. Unbeknownst to his old man Raj persuades a bunch of skeptical unskilled Sikh friends to form a team — the “Speedy Singhs” — for an ostensibly prestigious tournament called the Hyundai Cup. He also recruits a coach one-time NHLer Dan Winters (Rob Lowe) a washed-up has-been whose comely sister Melissa (Camilla Bell) Raj is determined to woo.
Since there’s never much doubt Raj will get the goal and the girl most of the preceding action seems a bit redundant. It’s clear the young man won’t be able to conceal his hockey playing from his father forever but equally probable Darvesh (Anupam Kher) will eventually come around. It’s clear the team will face some hurdles en route to glory but none that won’t leave them more unified than before. It’s not entirely clear why there’s a cameo by Drake who makes little impression and clearly didn’t do it for money or publicity.
The film’s cast can’t do much to elevate their lacklustre material but they don’t make it any worse either. Russell Peters’s underwhelming performance as Raj’s smarmy future in-law Sonu confirms he shouldn’t quit his night job but then drawing laughs from the generally feeble jokes — he sarcastically refers to Raj as “Mahatma Gretzky” at one point — would challenge far better actors. Fortunately however there are better actors than Peters here. Charming newcomer Virmani gives a decent if not Genie-calibre performance and Bollywood veteran Kher brings some credibility to a stereotypically stern immigrant patriarch.
Whether it’s savvy marketing or shameless pandering is a fair question but Breakaway does handle its cross-cultural element with some shrewdness. Indo-Canadian viewers whom the frequent Punjabi dialogue suggests are a target audience may well like the film’s portrayal of the Singhs winning the nation’s hearts although that’s told rather than shown and seems improbable for a beer-league team. By the same token its portrayal of the children of immigrants enthusiastically embracing hockey may strike a chord with other Canadians. And Canadians of all stripes may become a touch misty-eyed at the sight of the Singhs belting out “O Canada” before the game or the maple leaf waving in the stands as they play.
Canadians could experience the same sensation of course watching last year’s Olympic victory by a much better hockey team but then few dramatizations of great athletic feats match the real thing. Breakaway is no substitute for the best of sport whether on ice or on screen but it’s not the worst possible supplement.
