User reviews

This was an average sort of movie. It didn't leave any lasting impressions despite an interesting premise and gritty storyline. Poor Boy's Game is a movie built around a boxing match, but its most powerful scenes involve the ongoing human drama. I still found this a bit all over the place, the characters underdeveloped and their motivation vague.

The story is ultimately about forgiveness and redemption following Donnie (Rossif Sutherland) who has just been released from prison after serving 10 a ten year sentence for beating a man so badly he suffered permanent mental disability. Upon his release he goes back to his old crew of familiar (Canadian faces) hard drinking racist A--holes for the most part and then through guilt I suppose agrees to enter into a boxing grudge match that he knows will end either in his loss or death.

The plot gets strange then as Danny Glover agrees to help train Donnie even though he is the man responsible for beating his son. This all culminates into some kind of racial war; churches burn, people are killed in revenge killings and then the big showdown takes place in the ring. The boxing isn't great here either, kinda cheesy as is the ending where both boxers have to work together in the ring.

There is a big Canadian cast attached to this, lots of actors I recognized from assorted TV shows and then Danny Glover. Weird. It has also been filmed and takes place in Halifax but had a feel of one of those movies filmed in Canada but meant to take place in America. 12/1/15

In a racially divided Halifax, former boxer Donnie Rose (Rossif Sutherland) gets paroled after ten years in prison. George (Danny Glover) is the father of his victim who was beaten to brain damage. During the last few years, Donnie had stopped his violence and racial anger. He returns to a hero's welcome and a party with his racist family. Professional boxer Ossie Parris (Flex Alexander) decides to get revenge by challenging him to a boxing match. Despite acrimony from both sides of the racial divide, Donnie and George form an unlikely partnership.

This is a Canadian indie. As a boxing movie, it isn't that much. In the end, this is not really a sports movie. It is more about forgiveness, acceptance, and racial tolerance. Even more interestingly, it delves into the racially divided world of Halifax. There are moments of real power, but the movie is a bit too meandering. Rossif is too passive although I do get the acting choice. The pacing has too many slow spots. As for the ending, I like the starting move, but I didn't like where it goes. There is a lot to like in this.

I cannot believe that people wrote anything good or remotely good about this film. The lead role, played by Rossif Sutherland, should be his last stint in the acting biz. He acted like Keanu Reeves on Xanax. Then the mentally handicapped character was a real disgrace to the handicapped all over the world. The boxing scenes looks like Mike Tyson's Punchout and Danny Glover! Does he even have any credibility? If your even dreaming about watching this movie, it's a bad idea. It's embarrassing that people spent millions on this movie, and there's not even any brasts to make up for its poor plot line, horrible cast and Lifetime original movie feel.

POOR BOY'S GAME is a little film with a big message: hate can only be altered with forgiveness, remorse and redemption. The highly respected Jamaican director Clément Virgo (episodes on 'The Wire', 'The L Word', 'Soul Food', and films 'Love Comes Down', 'Lie With Me', etc) here takes on the tough subject of racism and the accompanying backlash of consequences and with co-writer Chaz Thorne produces a small but pungent film that touches many aspects of the schism between whites and blacks in the seemingly tranquil town of Halifax, Nova Scotia. Isolating the story in such an unlikely place serves to heighten the core problems the film addresses.

Donnie Rose (Rossif Sutherland) is released from prison, having served nine years for the brutal beating of Charles Carvery (K.C. Collins) which left the victim severely brain damaged. Upon release Donnie returns to his old neighborhood to live with his mother and find work as a security guard in a bar. Largely due to the bad influence of Donnie's belligerent and bigoted brother Keith (Greg Bryk), Donnie has to struggle with his family situation, trying to avoid the pain and guilt of his past while coping with his own dark secrets. His victim's father George (Danny Glover) stalks Donnie with the intent of killing him for the damage he has inflicted on both only his son and wife (Tonya Lee Williams), but the racial tension he encounters magnifies the underlying tragedy of the past - a factor both Donnie and George must face. Violence between the blacks and whites erupts and the resolution is to be decided in a boxing match between the superior boxer Ossie Paris (Flex Alexander) and Donnie. After a touching encounter following a tragedy, George and Donnie bond and George trains Donnie for the fight, the first sign of erasing racial tension. How the crucial fight preparations proceed and how the fight results from the resolution of the critical conflict that has eroded the town and these people forms the surprising closure of this story.

The cast is strong with the quiet lead from Danny Glover and the smoldering, conflicted Donnie by Rossif Sutherland, the fine young Canadian actor whose father is Donald Sutherland and whose half brother is Kiefer Sutherland. The film very quietly explores other conflicts, such as Donnie's sexual and emotional life with his black cell mate in prison, adding to the exploration of human behaviors that influence interpersonal schisms and barriers. This may be a low budget movie but it is a solid work well worth viewing. Grady Harp

After seeing this film at the Pan African Film Festival, I was struck not just by the importance of its message but the universal appeal of the film as a whole. This is a story that truly crosses racial boundaries. Danny Glover is excellent as usual, but the entire cast is talented, and the lead actor, Rossif Sutherland, is definitely one to watch. The story begins with a vicious attack by an almost unreedemable lead character. His journey through the prison system to the boxing ring forces him to confront his inner demons, and to ask forgiveness from those he has harmed. Definitely worth seeing at a film festival or anywhere you can find it!

I haven't had much good to say about films shot in Canada recently, but this is the exception. I hope race relations in Nova Scotia aren't this bad, but the film made me believe each of the characters were real. They all had a depth to them, and as others have mentioned, were all acted very well. It's true that some of this territory has been covered before, but I think it's safe to say nobody saw this particular ending coming quite the way it happened. My last comment is about the boxing scene, which I felt was unique in conveying the impacts of some of the blows. Other recent boxing movies have not had the same effect, for me. I look forward to more films of this calibre.

This is the film Clint Eastwood wishes he could have directed. I just saw Poor Boy's Game at MoMa (March 13) and I am appalled that it is not getting a theatrical release in the US, but going straight to DVD. There is a huge market for this film in America. Clement Virgo is a brilliant director. The drama is clever, suspenseful and both Glover and Sutherland are Oscar contenders! The young Ross Sutherland holds his own against the always-amazing Glover, and some of the most epic movie moments of 2007 is when they have their "talk" overlooking the ocean towards the end of the film. The movie has everything (crime, suspense, sex, redemption, class and race conflict, romance, boxing) without becoming predictable and the final 20 minutes are so worth it! Not the mention the music by Byron Wong. Just amazing. LINDA SAETRE

When i starting watching this movie i expected very little so i didn't have my hopes. I was so wrong!!! This movie is really good. It tackles a lot of issues has a really good storyline and is very touching.

It's the sort of film that you watch and think anything is possible and you really should judge people. If you haven't seen this movie you really should. I'm not going to say it's the best movie in the world but is it worth watching YES!!

The plot is really good and the acting is also really good. From the time the movie started i was hooked. I wanted to know what had happened and how it was going to end. I can't compare it to any other movie because it's like no other movie i've seen. The start has a touch of American History X i guess you could say.

I give this movie 8 out of 10

Worth watching!!

I liked this movie. I think it's fairly good, but my main complaint is that it feels like a very "safe" drama, in that normally when the end credits roll in a normal drama, you have a very strong emotion that sticks with you for hours or even days on end. You definitely do not get that from this movie.

I picked this movie up for $2.50 and I was pleasantly surprised at it. The acting was fairly good, the plot was nice, and it carried some strong topics throughout that I think might be easy to relate to if you have background knowledge of the city of Halifax; however, I don't, and maybe that's why this movie didn't feel as powerful to me.

To my point on a "safe" drama, my complaint is this: the tension is there, but its delivered very softly. Most of the film draws on the animosity between the various characters; there's about four main characters, and all of them have strong feelings towards each other. But its strange; you learn the backgrounds and expect strong bonds, but they're not given directly with that strong power. It's like the film is saying "we told you their relations, just take our word for it, we don't have to show it". The other thing is the ending. I'm not going to give anything away, but after sitting through the entire film I felt it was trying to deliver a message, but I simply could not understand what it was. They were trying to deliver the moral without dialogue, but I think it just couldn't be done.

Overall, I'd say check it out. Maybe it's a film where the message you create; who knows? 8/10.

this is my first review. I felt so compelled to write this after I saw the ridiculously low rating attributed to this fine movie.

I must say that I am not easily impressed by movies.I am sure this movie did not have the budget to advertise itself to masses, or hire more recognized actors. However, I was very much moved by the acting, well- polished storyline with great and believable twists, and a satisfying end. For comparison, even though I like Clint Eastwood related movies a lot, and I enjoyed Million Dollar Baby, this one is way better in almost all aspects.It has a great after-taste as well, leaves you high spirited with more hopes for peace of the mankind.

I was thinking first when i started this movie that it was some crappy low budget flick but it turned out to be one of my favorites it tells the story of how a man with a rough youth can go from a cold hearted scum bag to someone completely reformed and empathetic it is a touching movie and it moves along at a very good pace building up to the climax where the too men step into the ring i would like to see more titles like this and i will definitely be looking to purchase this some time, and the fact that it was filmed in my hometown is kind of cool too it really helps to relate to the movie, all in all i would give this movie a ten out of ten.. it is one of those that you want to see over and over again