Great "little" movie

Rating: 8/10 (11 January 2014)

It's nice when you unexpectedly come across a warm, unpretentious movie, where characters are human, not biped plot necessities.
I'm not fond of sports movies, but I am fond of characters-finding-themselves movies, and this is exactly what I found here. Yes, it's quite bloody and violent but underneath the violence there is friendship and caring, and a sense of real thoughtful people trying their best. It might seem a contradiction in terms (violence vs caring and thoughtfulness) but see the movie and you'll understand.
The movie is filled with engaging supporting characters and good performances. To me Jay Baruchel, Alison Pill, Liev Schreiber and Kim Coates stood out.
The only other movie where I've seen and liked Seann William Scott was the Rundown. I thought he was charismatic punk then, but now I saw him as a human being, it was a quiet but quite deep performance. He made a sympathetic goon. I really felt for him in the "I'm stupid, he's gay" scene. For the record, I don't think he was stupid, just extremely shy and socially awkward, who internalized only too well his parents' labeling of him. He needed just the right environment to bloom, regardless of whether he had to imprint it with his blood and fists.