Lackluster Sports Drama

Rating: 5/10 (26 December 2012)

A minor league hockey team tries to salvage its losing season while dealing with the possibility of being sold. It is not clear what this film is meant to be. It's advertised as a comedy, but there's hardly anything funny here. There are endless scenes of home and road games that do little to propel the narrative. Newman is the player-coach, although he's too old to be playing and is not shown doing any coaching. The characters are undeveloped and uninteresting. This is inexplicably regarded as one of the best sports films. Director Hill is reunited with Newman, but the magic of "Butch Cassidy" and "The Sting" is missing here; perhaps if Robert Redford played Newman's teammate...