Product Description

What could be funnier than the sport played with a broom that so clearly separates americans from canadians? leslie nielsen stars as the eccentric coach of a dysfunctional curling team on a quest to win canadas greatest curling event the golden broom. Studio: Lions Gate Home Ent. Release Date: 10/29/2002 Starring: Paul Gross Leslie Nielsen Run time: 102 minutes Rating: Nr

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #16793 in DVD
• Brand: Lions Gate
• Released on: 2002-10-29
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English, French
• Subtitled in: English, French
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 102 minutes

Amazon.com
Call it The Full Monty on ice. With tongue firmly in cheek, director-writer-star Paul Gross applies the old underdog sports-team formula to that great Northern obsession: curling. (You thought hockey was the national obsession? So did Canada.) You know the score: estranged teammates reunite to fulfill a dead man's last request, win glory for their fictional hometown, and earn back their hibernating self-respect. Square-jawed Gross recalls his Due South days as the amiable team captain, a boy scout with an impish streak. Leslie Nielsen turns down the usual goofball shtick to play Gross's crotchety, self-medicating father. There are enough issues here to fuel a dozen movies and none of them packs the punch of a pint of Molson's beer, which is just the right tone for this off-center sports spoof, a story of little victories, big stones, and beavers on the move. --Sean Axmaker

Customer Reviews

A great curling comedy. No, seriously!
A bunch of friends and I found this movie in an attempt to have a movie night of "non-sport" sport movies. We thought, "Surely, a Canadian movie about curling made by and starring the star of ASPEN EXTREME and featuring Leslie Nielsen will have to be so bad, it'll amaze us." Well, we were amazed, but not by its badness. It wasn't what I would call a genuinely amazing movie, either. I guess it was amazing in how NOT bad it was. Paul Gross and company do trot out many of the underdog sports movie clichés but always with just the faintest hint of tongue-in-cheek to keep the viewer from feeling like it's just another silly sports movie. Leslie Nielsen is also a nice touch. He gets to exercise his straight comedic talents for a change, and I personally think he's much more interesting when he does. It's still a silly comedy, but it's fun that you won't feel so guilty about liking. I recommend you check it out if you get a chance. (Besides, you have to see it if only so you can check out the rival team in polka dot lamé track suits and the inexplicable abundance of beavers that show up rather randomly throughout the movie.)

Makes you wish you were Canadian
I'm a new Paul Gross fan having just discovered Due South and I'd heard about Men With Brooms so I gave it a go. It's great! Sweet, funny, a real feel good movie. It will make you wish you were Canadian. It will make you want to go dig up your secret old dreams and follow them. I was very impressed with Paul Gross's dream as he directed, acted in, wrote the music, and wrote the screen play for the movie. Quite a lot to juggle and he didn't drop the ball or stone as it may be. Also, not being a sports person, I'd sort of rolled my eyes at the passionate references to curling in the later Due South episodes. Now, though, I get it. I like it. It's one of those sports like Sumo wrestling that has its thrills, skills, and artistry, but suits those of us with short attention spans that can't stand mainstream sports. It looks like it was great fun to play as well as make the movie. Give it a go if you like romance, sports, comedy, and the triumph of the human spirit. It will make your day.

The World's Second-Most Boring Sport..
"Lagaan" proved a couple of years ago that you could make a good movie about a truly boring sport: cricket. You can even make a movie that makes it almost comprehensible. Now, "Men With Brooms" shows that you can make a good and funny movie about another boring sport: curling.

While no one will be nominating "Men With Brooms" for any awards, it's a surprisingly watchable, funny movie that follows the good, old-fashioned 'reunite the underdogs' sports movie formula with a bit of "Red Green"esque Canadian men making gentle fun of themselves. Sadly, I think it never saw an American release, but its worth adding to anyone's collection of funny sports movies.

Even the performances in this movie break above the usual sports/romantic comedy level. Paul Gross (who I have sadly never seen in "Due South") plays a convincingly cynical sports star come home to small-town Ontario. Leslie Nielsen breaks typecast for a crotchety, but still-funny former curling star, and Bob Bainborough (Dalton Humphrey on "Red Green") steals his scenes as a curling announcer reminiscent of a less-grating Bob Uecker in "Major League".

I recommend this movie for sports nuts, romantic comedy fans, and people with a soft spot for Canadian humor. I found it to be a pleasant surprise, and I'll bet you will too...