Youngblood Parent Guide

As sports go, hockey is quite violent, and that’s how Dean Youngblood (Ashton James) learned the game. His father, Blane (Blair Underwood), insisted he rise to any fight and never let anybody get away with anything, ever. 

Now, 18-years old Dean is still trying to fight his father’s fights. It’s landed him a season-long suspension from his university team, which could derail his entire career. He’s been offered what Dean knows could be his last chance: The Hamilton Mustangs lost a couple of players to injury, and going into the playoffs, they need a player with some skills. Dean has the skills – but can he stay out of the penalty box long enough to use them? His new coach, Murray Chadwick (Shawn Doyle), doesn’t think so, which means Dean is spending more time on the bench than he planned. Predictably, he isn’t happy about it, but he must learn to control his temper if he wants to play the sport he loves. 

This is less a remake of the 1986 Rob Lowe vehicle of the same name (which I admit I haven’t seen), and more a reimagining. Lowe’s Youngblood, who has the hockey skills but can’t fight, is a mirror for Ashton James’ version of the character, who spends the entire movie trying to fight his way through his problems. This year’s version is also one of those movies that will have you blaming the parent - Dean may be a bit of a hothead, but literally every time he talks to his father, the man is telling him to fight somebody. 

That’s in large part due to the ugly racist side of hockey, which make some of Dean’s outbursts more sympathetic. He’s suspended from his university team after another slashing another player who got his attention by calling him “boy” and making monkey noises. Hey, some penalties, you just have to take. 

The violence is one of the bigger issues for family audiences, but there are also some drunken revels, a scene of underwear-clad making out, and nearly two dozen uses of scatological cursing. That makes these guys the most decorously spoken hockey players alive but this depiction still isn’t suited for a young audience. 

I’m a die-hard hockey fan but I must admit that Youngblood is a fairly generic sports movie, a paint-by-the-numbers plot with the usual pitfalls, training montages, and last-second victories. Compared to the other films in the genre, this one is quite character focused, with less time spent on the minutiae of any particular game, and more emphasis on Dean and his personal struggles. If nothing else, it was nice to see that Dean and I own the same Heritage Classic Jerome Iginla jersey. I can’t not relate to another kid who knows Iginla is the best. 

About author

Keith Hawkes

Keith Hawkes graduated from Mount Royal University, Calgary, Canada with a degree in English and History. His interests are movies, American literature, science fiction, almost every kind of music, and museums. He enjoys criticizing films for fun - although he's okay with being paid for it.