Crooked Arrows 2012

Daniel M. Gold, New York Times: "Crooked Arrows" gets points for its glimpses of Native American culture and history - the film's backers include the Onondaga Nation - but too many of these scenes are disappointingly static. Read more

Loren King, Boston Globe: The story is unique and engaging enough to transcend the uplifting sports-underdog formula. Read more

David Martindale, Dallas Morning News: The film clearly targets a niche audience of lacrosse enthusiasts. But it also works on a broader scale, because well-executed David-vs.-Goliath sports stories like this have universal appeal. Read more

Gary Goldstein, Los Angeles Times: "Crooked Arrows" might involve two lesser-seen screen subjects - Native Americans and lacrosse - but it still can't break free of the usual underdog sports picture tropes. Read more

Bob Herzog, Newsday: While the plot is trite, the lacrosse action is right. The cameras capture the speed, agility and physical nature of the sport. Read more

Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: Routh ... does a killer Tom Cruise-in-"Jerry Maguire" homage in this swift little sports dramedy. Read more

Farran Smith Nehme, New York Post: In another era, "Crooked Arrows" might have been an after-school special, perfect to have on the TV while cleaning the house; miss a scene while you're dusting under the couch, and you'll still know exactly what's happening later. Read more

John Swansburg, Slate: The plucky underdog Native American lacrosse movie I never knew I wanted. Read more

Gayle MacDonald, Globe and Mail: An entirely predictable script that chugs along to the foregone loser-beats-odds conclusion. Read more

Andrew Schenker, Time Out: A by-the-numbers triumph-of-the-underdog flick. Read more

Linda Barnard, Toronto Star: It's an often-awkward niche film enlivened by impressive on-field action scenes. But those can't get it beyond a predictable sports underdogs-fight-back plot. Read more

Ronnie Scheib, Variety: A millennial brace of lacrosse action propels Crooked Arrows through a thicket of cliches liberally planted in its path. Read more

Nick Schager, Village Voice: Despite referring to the tribe as "my people," Routh is wholly miscast, yet his ill-fitting presence is part and parcel of the plotting's general illogicality. Read more

Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post: The lacrosse angle aside, "Crooked Arrows" seems less interested in breaking ground than in following a path that has been trod a thousand times before. Read more