Saint Ralph: 8 out of 10.
Last night, I finally watched "Saint Ralph". I first wrote about this movie last August when I learned The Tragically Hip's Gord Downie recorded a cover of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" for the movie. Jeff Buckley's cover of Cohen's "Hallelujah" is one of my ten tracks and The Hip is my favourite band, so it's natural I'd be interested in this tune.
It turns out it doesn't just have a cool soundtrack but it's a fantastic little Canadian film. Adam Butcher as Ralph Walker is charming as all hell, the visuals of 1950s Hamilton are great and the story is sweet and inspiring all at once. I loved it and highly recommend it.
Now, back to the soundtrack. The use of Downie's vocals during the climatic scene are chilling. It's perfect, as if that song had been written to be sung by that man during that race. There are other great contributions from Canadian artists as well. "Dark Angel", performed by Blue Rodeo and featuring Sarah McLachlan works perfectly, "You Came Along" by Joel Plaskett Emergency is great and "Up The Road" from Ron Sexsmith is haunting. A tremendous non-Canadian contribution is "Goodnight Moon" by little known Will Kimbrough. With great tunes like these from great artists, why is the "Saint Ralph" soundtrack non-existent?
In typical Canadian fashion, a sweet Canadian movie with an exceptional soundtrack comprised of mainly Canadian acts doesn't see the light of day. It's a damn shame, but in the meantime, my Hallelujah hunt continues...
