Have you ever videotaped a sporting event for viewing pleasure later and tried to get through the day without catching the score of the game? This is the dilemma facing football-obsessed Les, played by comedian Brent Butt. (What a perfect last name for a comedian – Butt. Brent Butt. Kinda rolls off the tongue.) He is called to work on the worst day possible – the day of the Canadian Grey Cup – practically a national holiday and basically the Great White North’s version of the American Super Bowl. He tapes the game at home to savor it for later viewing. As luck would have it, his boss is a d******d and couldn’t care less if Les hears the play by play. Les attempts to survive his workday at the department store, avoiding any mention of the final score of the game, but with little luck. This does not prove easy when he becomes faced with a wall of televisions and some insensitive customers. Inevitably, Les is driven to the brink when some near disasters almost give the score away.
The film is based on an actual Grey Cup game played in 1989 which turned into an upset featuring the Saskatchewan Rough Riders. (“Rough Riders.” Sounds like an Arena Football team. Despite a provincial population of only one million, the team consistently sells out their 25,000-seat stadium.) Canadian sports writer Tony Hrynchuk turns to writing and directing chores along with co-writer, co-director and co-producer Craig Courtice and the two deliver a smart comedic sense and attention to detail. The hysterical result is one that virtually every sports fanatic can relate to.
