Thorough knowledge of the environment allowed him to write a fairly believable screenplay and shoot especially scenes of hockey training and matches with documentary certainty. The main character is sixteen-year-old David, who comes as a newcomer / goalkeeper to the Vlků hockey team.
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His logical rival is the current goalkeeper Miki, and each of them has others in addition to hockey prerequisites. While David’s father is a wealthy influential man able to pay anything, Miki’s dad is a coach.
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The fragile David in the natural performance of Tomáš Dalecký differs from the Wolves in long hair also in that he is not completely healthy (he has diabetes), he also has a beautiful loving girl, which together with his excellent financial background predisposes him not to be easily accepted by a crowded group. . It starts with petty bullying, rather stupid forums, but continues to bullying over the internet, which is too much for a mild boy. No matter how natural it is, he will have to stand up to the Wolves.
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However, the picture of how young hockey players treat each other fades in comparison with the way ambitious fathers behave, most of all David’s in the exact performance of Jiří Vyorálek. The moments when he doesn’t even perceive his wife’s worries about his son’s health, when he goes to his richly confident man, who can pay not only for expensive diabetic supplies, but also for David’s position, are so impressive that they freeze from them.
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But it is also a snag of the Pack. Polenský tried to collect more problems with youth hockey than could fit in the film, so in some places he seems more superficial than they had to and should, and especially the conclusion is somewhat rapid. And the mentioned diabetes, ie a health handicap, is superfluous, focusing on the relationship between a close-knit team and a newcomer, plus the image of fathers who put their own ambitions into their children, would suffice.
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Acting, the film is unbalanced, especially among young people, among whom only Tomáš Dalecký (Knots and Oranges) and Tomáš Mrvík (Everything Will Be) play naturally. The others are unimpressive and weak in terms of acting, and the director has no experience yet to better manage them. Nevertheless, Smečka is one of the better films in this year’s collection and as a debut to promising films.
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| Pack |
| Czechia 2020, 95 min. Directed by: Tomáš Polenský, starring: Tomáš Dalecký, Tomáš Mrvík, Anastasia Chocholatá, Jiří Vyorálek, Patrik Děrgel and others |
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