Tough Guy: The Bob Probert Story is a 2018 documentary about the life and times of hockey legend Bob Probert.
I’m not a sports fan but I do admire those who commit themselves to it, finding stories about incredible human achievement endlessly fascinating. There are stretches where all I watch on YouTube are compilations of such and I find myself searching for documentaries to discover more. Now comes a new film (releasing soon) from Geordie Day called Tough Guy: The Bob Probert Story, a name any hockey fan surely knows, famous for his physical prowess on the rink, a fighter who became more well known for his beatings than his impressive hockey skills, and I’ll say right away that it’s not a highlight reel. It’s instead the story of a tragedy, well-made and honestly insightful.
Beginning with what made his reputation so impactful, the film starts with fighting, archival footage of the big man going toe-to-toe with a slew of professional players in his time with the Detroit Red Wings during the 80s and early 90s. Like most of the rest of the movie, it’s overlayed with Probert’s own voice, recorded earlier (he died unexpectedly in 2010), reminiscing about his battles on the ice. He was a solid player, as Day explores briefly, but the real story is everything else, where the young Probert goes out of control in just about every other avenue of his life.
Dealing with rampant drug abuse and escalating alcoholism, we learn about how his excesses lead to missed games, conflicts with the coaching staff, and even near-death car accidents. Multiple visits to jail and drug related immigration arrests led him to some real problems, his life caving in around him as his star rose in the rink, fans thronging to games to see the brute beat his way to the top. It’s thought he was looking for an excuse to make it all stop.
Day stays off camera, keeping this more an exploration than a straight run of talking heads, though there are plenty of testimonials, with teammates, friends, and family offering their thoughts on Probert’s short, turbulent life. For that, there is a lot to get excited about, with many who were on the ice with him – even fighting him – recalling their own Probert experience, even if the nature of the beast leads all to act with the greatest of respect. Most of that is, of course, about his destructive presence while suited up, which offers loads of wild moments on the ice, but it’s what happens out of the rink that has the larger impact.
Day works to humanize the bigger than life enforcer, and for the most part, manages to layer in a great deal of sympathy, Probert an honestly charming guy who seemed to want to get his life on the right track, especially after another accident has him traded to a new team. But not all goes to plan and old habits come back to haunt. Naturally, hovering over this is his death, the fact that we know where it’s all going ominous the more it unfolds. His body busted and bruised from years of fighting, suffering from concussive injuries that affected his mental capacities, the latter half of Tough Guy begins to shift its message, culminating in a letter he wrote to his own condition (read by his wife). It’s hard not to be moved.
Tough Guy: The Bob Probert Story is a personal story (based on the book by Day’s real-life mother Kirstie McLellan Day, who wrote with the late Probert). Day looks to offer up a bit of commentary on the sport, but is careful not to make any absolute accusations, leaving the audience to make their own judgments. Energized by plenty of hockey footage and genuinely earnest stories from those who knew him, this will certainly appeal to fans of the athlete and his contribution to the sport. Recommended.
Tough Guy : The Bob Probert Story airs on Super Channel in Canada December 14th with a U.S release expected next year.