Score: A Hockey Musical is a 2010 Canadian musical film, written and directed by Michael McGowan

Michael McGowan (director)

Michael McGowan is a Canadian filmmaker who wrote directed the feature films One Week and Saint Ralph...

.

Synopsis

Seventeen-year old Farley Gordon has led a sheltered life, home-schooled and isolated by his parents. His closest friend is Eve, their next door neighbour. When his skill at hockey is realised, Farley is signed to a major hockey league and achieves instant fame and success. But pressure from his coach and teammates and a changing relationship with Eve begin to create intense strain in Farley's life.

Cast

• Noah Reid
  Noah Reid
  Noah Reid is a Canadian actor.-Personal life:Reid was born in Toronto, Ontario. He attended Etobicoke School of the Arts in Toronto, Ontario, Canada for high school and is a graduate of the Canada's National Theatre School. He is also an accomplished musical performer with winnings in various...
  
   as Farley Gordon
• Allie MacDonald
  Allie MacDonald
  Alexandra "Allie" MacDonald is a Canadian actress. Best known for her role as Eve in Score: A Hockey Musical, she has appeared in several short films and television commercials and is currently shooting a supporting role in House at the End of the Street starring Elizabeth Shue and Jennifer...
  
   as Eve
• Stephen McHattie
  Stephen McHattie
  Stephen McHattie is a Canadian actor.-Life and career:McHattie was born in Antigonish, Nova Scotia....
  
   as Walt Acorn
• Olivia Newton-John
  Olivia Newton-John
  Olivia Newton-John AO, OBE is a singer and actress. She is a four-time Grammy award winner who has amassed five No. 1 and ten other Top Ten Billboard Hot 100 singles and two No. 1 Billboard 200 solo albums. Eleven of her singles and 14 of her albums have been certified gold by the RIAA...
  
   as Hope Gordon
• Marc Jordan
  Marc Jordan
  Marc Jordan , is a Canadian singer-songwriter, record producer, session musician, and actor. Covering a wide variety of genres, he has written songs for a number of well-known artists, including Diana Ross, Rod Stewart, Cher, Bette Midler, and Josh Groban...
  
   as Edgar Gordon
• Nelly Furtado
  Nelly Furtado
  Nelly Kim Furtado is a Canadian singer-songwriter, record producer and actress. Furtado grew up in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.Furtado first gained fame with her debut album, Whoa, Nelly!, and its single "I'm Like a Bird", which won a 2001 Juno Award for Single of the Year and a 2002 Grammy...
  
   as an ardent hockey fan
• John Pyper-Ferguson
  John Pyper-Ferguson
  John Pyper-Ferguson is an Australian-born Canadian actor. He has appeared in a wide range of films and television shows. His notable works include playing Sonny Hamilton on Hamilton's Quest, Peter Hutter on The Adventures of Brisco County Jr., and Joe Whedon on Brothers & Sisters...
  
   as Coach Donker
• John Robinson
  John Robinson (Canadian actor)
  John Robinson is a Canadian film and television actor. His roles have included Richard Francis Burton in Zero Patience and Chuck Morgan in MVP.-External links:...
  
   as Ace
• Dru Viergever as Moose
• Chris Ratz as Maurice
• George Stroumboulopoulos
  George Stroumboulopoulos
  George Mark Paul Stroumboulopoulos is a Canadian television and radio personality, best known as the host of CBC Television's George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight and being a VJ for Canadian music television channel MuchMusic...
  
   as an arena announcer
• Evan Solomon
  Evan Solomon
  Evan Solomon is a Canadian writer, magazine publisher and television journalist, who currently hosts the nightly series Power & Politics on CBC News Network. Beginning in September 2011, he will also host CBC Radio One's weekly political affairs series The House.Solomon graduated from McGill...
  
   as himself
• Brandon Firla
  Brandon Firla
  Brandon Firla is a Canadian actor and comedian, currently best known for his role as Clark Claxton on the television sitcom Billable Hours...
  
   as Don Mohan
• Gianpaolo Venuta
  Gianpaolo Venuta
  Gianpaolo Venuta is a Canadian actor. He is also a classically trained piano player.-Filmography:*Live Through This Kyle...
  
   as Marco
• Steve Kouleas
  Steve Kouleas
  Steve Kouleas is a Canadian television anchor, radio host and hockey broadcaster who currently works for TSN...
  
   as himself
• Wesley Morgan
  Wesley Morgan
  Wesley Francis Morgan is a Canadian actor and model, known for the role of Skander Hill on Harriet the Spy: Blog Wars, the recurring role of Sam on Degrassi: The Next Generation and Prom King Josh in The Rocker.-Career:...
  
   as a sensitive player
• Marc Trottier as Jean Luc, the Braces goalie
• Paul O'Sullivan as a doctor
• Walter Gretzky
  Walter Gretzky
  Walter Gretzky, CM, O.Ont is a Canadian who has been honoured for his contributions to minor hockey in Canada, and for his dedication to helping many local, provincial, and national charities...
  
   as himself
• Theo Fleury as himself
• John McDermott
  John McDermott (singer)
  John Charles McDermott is a Scottish-Canadian tenor best known for his rendering of the song "Danny Boy". Born in Glasgow, Scotland, John moved with his family to Willowdale, Ontario, Canada in 1965. Growing up in a musical family, his only formal musical training was at St...
  
   as himself
• Hawksley Workman
  Hawksley Workman
  Ryan Corrigan , better known by the stage name Hawksley Workman, is a Canadian rock singer-songwriter who has garnered critical acclaim for his blend of cabaret pop and glam rock. Workman has released eleven full length albums throughout his career...
  
   as Gump
• Thomas Mitchell as Darryl

Songs

The soundtrack to Score: A Hockey Musical contains 21 songs:

1. "O Hockey Canada" by The Canadian Children's Opera Company Written by Marco DiFelice, Jonathan Goldsmith, and Michael McGowan
2. "Darryl vs. The Kid" Written by Barenaked Ladies
   Barenaked Ladies
   Barenaked Ladies is a Canadian alternative rock band. The band is currently composed of Jim Creeggan, Kevin Hearn, Ed Robertson, and Tyler Stewart. Barenaked Ladies formed in 1988 in Scarborough, Ontario, then a suburban municipality outside the City of Toronto...
   
    and McGowan
3. "Best Friends" Written by DiFelice, Emilie Mover, Benjamin Pinkerton, and McGowan
4. "Frozen Toe" Written by DiFelice, Pinkerton, and McGowan
5. "Hugs" by Olivia Newton-John Written by Olivia Newton-John, Amy Sky, and Marc Jordan
6. "Give it a Shot" Written by DiFelice, Pinkerton, and McGowan
7. "Buck 55" Written by DiFelice, Pinkerton, and McGowan
8. "Kraft Dinner
   Kraft Dinner
   Kraft Dinner, known as Kraft Macaroni and Cheese in the United States and Macaroni Cheese in the United Kingdom, is a macaroni and cheese convenience food that requires minimal preparation by the consumer. The original product, a packaged dry macaroni and cheese mix, was introduced in 1937 by the...
   
   " Written by DiFelice, Pinkerton, and McGowan
9. "Baboons" Written by DiFelice, Jody Colero, Alexander Andresen, and McGowan
10. "Donker's Dilemma" Written by DiFelice, Pinkerton, and McGowan
11. "Boyfriends" Written by DiFelice, Brent Barkman, Colero, and McGowan
12. "Pacifism Defense" Written by DiFelice, Pinkerton, and McGowan
13. "Ordinary Boy" Written by DiFelice, Ryan Corrigan, and McGowan
14. "Boy in the Bubble" Written by DiFelice, Corrigan, and McGowan
15. "Dead and Done" Written by DiFelice, Corrigan, and McGowan
16. "Toe to Toe" Written by DiFelice, Corrigan, and McGowan
17. "Legends" Written by DiFelice, Benjamin, Pinkerton, Jordan, and McGowan
18. "Eve's a Goddess" Written by DiFelice, Corrigan, Amy Sky, and McGowan
19. "Hockey; The Greatest Game in the Land (Movie Version)" Written by DiFelice, Pinkerton, Colero, and McGowan
20. "Time Stand Still" by Nelly Furtado Written by Geddy Lee
    Geddy Lee
    Gary Lee Weinrib, OC, better known as Geddy Lee , is a Canadian musician, best known as the lead vocalist, bassist, and keyboardist for the Canadian rock group Rush...
    
    , Alex Lifeson
    Alex Lifeson
    Aleksandar Živojinović, OC, better known by his stage name Alex Lifeson, is a second generation Serbian-Canadian musician, best known as the guitarist of the Canadian rock band Rush. In the summer of 1968, Lifeson founded the band that would become Rush with friend, drummer John Rutsey...
    
    , and Neil Peart
    Neil Peart
    Neil Ellwood Peart , OC, is a Canadian musician and author. He is the drummer for the rock band Rush.Peart grew up in Port Dalhousie, Ontario . During adolescence, he floated from regional band to regional band in pursuit of a career as a full-time drummer...
    
    
21. "Hockey; The Greatest Game in the Land (Radio Edit)" by Hawksley Workman Written by Colero, McGowan, DeFelice, Pinkerton, and Hawksley Norman

Reception

Peter Howell

Peter Howell

Peter Howell is a musician and composer. He is best known for his work on Doctor Who as a member of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop....

 of the Toronto Star

Toronto Star

The Toronto Star is Canada's highest-circulation newspaper, based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its print edition is distributed almost entirely within the province of Ontario...

gave it two and-a-half stars out of four saying: "Score isn’t deep and there’s no danger of it becoming a global phenomenon. But it’s as true a crowd-pleaser, one that doesn't require season tickets to the Maple Leafs to appreciate." Stephen Cole of the Globe and Mail gave it three stars out of four, praising McGowan's direction of the film's genre saying: "McGowan's (Saint Ralph) wondrous achievement here is making a discarded genre seem like ready-made fun. He does so by creating a playful satire of musicals, while somehow - this is the hard part - capturing the charm that made song and dance movies so popular."

Release

The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival

Toronto International Film Festival

The Toronto International Film Festival is a publicly-attended film festival held each September in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. In 2010, 339 films from 59 countries were screened at 32 screens in downtown Toronto venues...

on September 9, 2010 as part of its Opening Night Gala. It was released in theatres in Canada on October 22.