Poor Boy’s Game (2007)

While some directors use cinema to present the audience with a grand illusion Clement Virgo uses the grand illusion of cinema to tell audiences the truth about the darker sides of life and the human condition.   Canadians often fall back on a very laissez faire approach to race and cultural relations in this country and they do so mostly on account of our PR around the world.  Canadians are known to be very nice and polite people who are also open minded and respectful.  For the most part growing up here you always think bad things, really bad things, happen in other places, far away places, places were are safe from.  What Virgo challenges us with is that good and evil aren’t out there but rather inside all of us regardless of age, race, or gender. 

Poor Boy’s Game is a film that challenges us to review and reconsider our ideas and perhaps even our ideals when it comes to racism in this country.  But, with Clement Virgo nothing is ever that simple.  He doesn’t make a film just about race, or just about family, or just about anything: it’s a tangled web that touches upon all the facets of life presenting its emotional triumphs and disasters almost seamlessly.  It can (and should) be argued that watching a Clement Virgo film is like watching the bits of life we’d rather not see on film because in our daily lives we rarely (if ever) confront the situations: when they are presented to us on a big screen and surround sound we are confronted by them.  The film’s story is centred around Donnie Rose (Rossif Sutherland ) who is being released after serving almost 10 years in prison for beating a man so badly it left him handicapped for life.   The release of Donnie Rose elicits hurt and anger with in the black community but in particular George Carvey (Danny Glover) who is reminded on a daily basis that his handicapped son was the victim of racist violence.  Two men on opposite ends of the same crime seek redemption and closure in the boxing ring.  A tale that deconstructs masculinity and bigotry in a way that challenges our views and our hearts.  

The film is beautifully written and Chaz Thorne doesn’t pull any punches with the subject matter or dialogue.  Rossif Sutherland delivers an inspiring performance.  He breaths life into Donnie Rose and makes this character human and sympathetic.  His restrained delivery makes any burst of action and energy all the more powerful and sets him a part from other actors of his generation.  Danny Glover plays a man torn between revenge and the fight for his own soul with grace and elegance.  The supporting cast all do a great job and none of them are slotted typically or indicate a rudimentary role playing of any kind.   Although, this story is primarily centred around Donnie Rose and George Carvey the supporting cast is just as important to both the action and the development to these characters.  Everyone in this film is fighting for something and any which way the film turns they are all pulling at Donnie for a sense of revenge, redemption. completion, or simply affection.  It’s an interesting take on masculinity and what really makes a man.  

The film also deals with sex, love, and attraction on many levels.  I always enjoy Clement Virgo films because they are far more honest than anyone I know when it comes to openly discussing the aforementioned.  The parallels of love and affection are shown through sex scenes and make the audience conscious that people are looking for something in a sexual experience that goes far beyond pleasure.  Not to ruin the very high and low moments in and around the sexual discourse of this film but I do believe seeing and experiencing first hand would do it far more justice.  What can be said is that the film offers no predetermined judgement on the limitations of sexuality, masculinity, love, or attraction–rather it indicates how complex people really are and perhaps how complex you are.

A definite must see and a film you won’t regret.  Watching this may get a little uneasy, a little teary, and at times a little steamy but one thing it won’t be is boring.  Clement Virgo has done it again…and keep an eye out for Rossif Sutherland…my inner geek senses good things
to come. 

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 20th, 2010 at 8:30 pm and is filed under Drama. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.