Underdog sports movies are a dime a dozen. But underdog sports movies set on the lacrosse field are not, so we’re marginally interested in Steve Rash’s Crooked Arrows, especially now that it has locked up its leading man.
Or should I say leading Superman? Brandon Routh, former man of steel, has signed on for the film which, according to Variety, will follow a Native American high school lacrosse team that’s ordered to join a private league occupied by snooty, rich-kid teams. Ah, so it’s the old “snobs versus slobs” formula, only with Native Americans and lacrosse-stick gags.
I’m pulling for Routh, who was a good Superman in Bryan Singer’s unfairly maligned effort and is still trying to catch a break. His small supporting role as a powerful vegan in Scott Pilgrim was amusing, but his Dylan Dog adaptation was dead on arrival. I’m not sure he’s the right guy to play “the tribal chairman's part-Native American entrepreneurial son,” as the trade suggests, but I’m hoping he brings energy and humor to the role of the motley team’s coach. Maybe a little of Gene Hackman from Hoosiers, or a Meatballs-era Bill Murray? As for Rash, he once directed Can’t Buy Me Love (so there’s hope) and Pauley Shore’s Son-In-Law (so that hope is limited, at best).
