Across the Line tells a good and important story, but tells that story in an awkward fashion.
The film is based on the story of when black and white hockey players were fighting each other in Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia in 1989.
Stephan James plays Mattie Slaughter, a potential NHL star on the horizon in Nova Scotia but with constant hurdles. Mattie’s brother Carter (James' real-life brother Shamier Anderson) is a pimp. There is a racist character Todd (Denis Theriault) at his school.
Slaughter tutors Jayme (Sarah Jeffery), a byproduct of a white mother and black father, and secretly pines for her. Jayme wants to run away to Toronto with her white boyfriend John (Steven Long).
Jim Codrington (The Border) does well in a smaller role as Jayme’s father.
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Director X, known for directing hip-hop videos, gives us an uneven film. He builds to a crescendo where we think something horrible is going to happen. Something bad happens but doesn’t match the buildup.
We get a scene about 10 minutes from the end that was a rehash of an earlier scene. There is the sex scene that feels comical rather than intense because of the awkwardness of the staging. Bursting into laughter is not what a sex scene needs. The ending is more mystifying than bad.
Lori Downey (Cara Ricketts) is the catch-all as the only teacher we see. Downey is the tie back to 1989. There is an exchange in the classroom where Downey would say something, but by the time the student responds. writer Floyd Kane already has Downey out of the scene.
Theriault does his best with Todd but Kane draws him as so 1-dimensional, he would do well in the world of Chien de Garde, Canada’s 2018 entry for the Best Foreign Language Film for the Academy Awards. John, his best friend, asks Todd about his motivation. The audience and John get nothing.
Mattie explains to Jayme that most of his hockey world is white and he has to block that out to survive. The funny part is that other than an agent, there are no white people associated with hockey in the film. We never see a game or a practice.
Hockey fans will groan at the non-realistic portrayal of how youth hockey works in Canada.
The film does a good job (mostly) at developing the plot in the first 60 minutes of the film. The rest of the film struggles significantly.
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James, Jeffery, and Anderson are the reasons to watch this film. They do well even with the poor script and character motivation. James and Anderson have a true chemistry as brothers on- and off-screen. Anderson was just named a 2019 TIFF Rising Star.
Jeffrey’s character is trapped in the middle of a lot in this film and rises well above the material.
You still should see this film regardless of its significant flaws. The story is vital; the energy is good. Black Cop tells the black story in Nova Scotia better. This film is not nearly as bad as Allure or Chien de Garde. Across the Line isn’t as good of a film as the story deserves, but you will get enough from the experience.
Looking back at the impact of The Filmmakers on CBC
Across the Line from Director X was a film featured in The Filmmakers Season 1. The film is available on Netflix in the United States.
video credit: YouTube/ Lightyear Entertainment
photo credit: Across the Line film
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