As an American living in the South, we generally don't know a ton about the history of hockey. Sure, we recently obtained hockey teams and I attend rather regularly, but I am a newcomer to the sport compared to Canadians and those living in old established hockey towns like New York, Boston and Chicago. So please understand that my review is mostly targeted for us 'outsiders'. I wanted to see this film because I love the sport and know only vaguely about Maurice Richard's career and nothing about him as a person. Interestingly, after seeing this film, I still know very, very little about him as a person and many of the important issues brought up in the film seem to have little context. So, for a person NOT weaned on hockey, you, too might feel a bit confused and lost about this film.The film is a bit episodic like most biopics. You see a tiny bit about Richard when he was a teen and then it jumps ahead to when he began his NHL career. Then, it bounces around a bit--spending a lot of time on his early career--then a jump to mid-career and then really nothing about the latter part of his career and life after hockey other than a few clips tossed in at the end. About his life, you see he has a couple kids, it appears that he loves his wife (though this is also oddly vague) and they show a lot of clips of his brother-in-law--though I failed to see the connection. Did he like or hate his brother-in-law? I dunno. But it was very, very strange that they never mentioned that he had two brothers who also played for the Canadians hockey club. Although one only briefly played with them, the other played for years for the club and was a HUGE star (nicknamed 'The Pocket Rocket')--but this was oddly omitted. Why focus so much on the brother-in-law who didn't even play and who seemed unimportant to Richard in the film?!In biographies, there is almost always some sort of controversy or obstacle to overcome. This is an almost unvarying formula. In the case of "The Rocket", the obstacles were players who deliberately targeted him on the ice as well as discrimination against the French-Canadian players. The latter, in particular, is an important topic--and one that most Americans don't even realize is or was an issue. I was struck by the fact that the coach on the Canadians didn't even speak French--even though the team played in French-Canada! This is interesting and I wanted to hear more about this--because if it's true*, it needs to be addressed. But, the film never said much apart that RICHARD thought it was a problem! So, was he a whiner or was there serious discrimination against French-speaking players then or now? The film didn't really answer that and I found this frustrating. Now it sounds like I hated this film--I didn't. The acting and shots of players playing hockey were very nice. And, I loved the soundtrack. But because I liked what I was seeing, it made what I did NOT see even more apparent. I think perhaps the film would have been better as a mini-series or at least by offering a bit more clarity to us non-Canadian viewers.*When I did an internet search about it, I found LOTS of websites that felt that CURRENTLY there is a lot of discrimination against French-speaking hockey players. They indicate that non-superstars have a hard time making it into Junior Hockey or the NHL. If this is the case, then it really needs to be addressed and a film like "The Rocket" could have paved the way for this. The statistics I found were NOT very encouraging for young French-Canadian players.

This was a very good movie. The main characters of Maurice Richard and Dick Irvin were portrayed very well by the actors. The movie had a very good look to replicate life in the 40's and 50's.One thing that bothered me is that Richard almost never smiled. I'm sure the man in real life had some happy moments.The hockey scenes were great and probably more realistic than any hockey movie made. The real story driving the movie though was outside of hockey as Richard tries to use his fame to better the lives of french speaking Quebeckers and also to turn the NHL establishment away from it's 'old-boy' network ways.The struggle between player and opponent suddenly becomes dwarfed by his struggle as man vs establishment. That's when the movie really takes off and yet, suddenly ends leaving you feeling a bit like the movie is not quite finished. Hence my rating of only 7 when I really wanted to give it a 8.5 or 9.

Roy Dupuis stars as "The Rocket" Maurice Richard in this epic hockey film. It is one of the best hockey movies I have ever seen, even better than Miracle. It doesn't matter if it's in French or if you don't even know who Maurice Richard was. You will get to know him during this film and want to know even more once the film has ended. It's an inspiring tale of one man overcoming hardships to prevail and show everyone how wrong they all were. 1950's hockey is portrayed with a gritty reality. Some of the most intense hockey fighting appears throughout this film. Dupuis really shines in Richard's relationship with his coach and his wife. Whether, you're a hockey fan or not, this movie is a must see.

As a person of French descent as well as French Canadian this movie was the best sports movie i've ever seen better than Raging Bull i almost cried tears of heartfelt pride Maurice Richard is a cultural icon he allowed us to hold our heads really high and like Jackie Robinson he sparked a cultural revolution for Le Quebecois after years OF racial prejudice he was like a burning flame in the darkest of placesfor us he was our beacon from humble beginnings he rose to greatness so we to are able to risei can't really remember a time i didn't know about him and his legacy and what he meant to us as french people especially the riots of march 17th 1955 in Montreal and through out the Quebec province