Crooked Arrows

These aspects provide the film with a novel focus, even though all of its events are entirely predictable.

An entirely predictable script that chugs along to the foregone loser-beats-odds conclusion.

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.

"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.

"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.

Routh ... does a killer Tom Cruise-in-"Jerry Maguire" homage in this swift little sports dramedy.

It's a warm-hearted little movie. It may have a ton of Native American cinematic clichés-dream sequences with staccato wooden flutes, soaring eagles, and so on-but it works.

This attempt at a drama is pretty routine, but it demonstrates why some clichs became clichs: because they work. [It's] basically The Bad News Bears without all of the humor, though the tone is still fairly light.

It's The Mighty Ducks for lacrosse and it works.

The lack of anything distinctive in execution or performance makes the film instantly forgettable.