Following up on his sexed-up Lie with Me, director Clement Virgo is tackling the very different themes of race, revenge and forgiveness in his latest movie, Poor Boy’s Game, starring Danny Glover and now shooting in Halifax.

The $5-million drama, set to wrap its six-week shoot in mid-July, tells the story of two working-class men: young, white Donnie (Rossif Sutherland), who is released from prison after serving nine years for a brutal assault; and George (Glover), the father of Donnie’s victim, who is out to avenge his now mentally and physically handicapped son.

Virgo says he’s looking to borrow the redemptive messages of Elia Kazan classics such as On the Waterfront and East of Eden. Without giving too much away, George rethinks his bloody-minded plans for Donnie, going so far as to save him from a severe beating in the boxing ring against a merciless opponent played by Flex Alexander (Snakes on a Plane).

‘We’re trying to capture that working-class harbor-town feel, in a homage to the style of Kazan, but in a modern way,’ says Virgo, on the phone from Halifax, halfway through filming.

‘This film – it’s modern. It will be fast-cutting, as I’m shooting quickly, with lots of different angles,’ he says, unlike the long, languid camera shots of Lie with Me.

The film is purposefully set in Halifax, home to Africville, Canada’s oldest black community, many ancestors of which came north via the underground railroad.

Much of the shoot takes place on location in Halifax’s north end. Donnie trains at local landmark Mello’s Gym, and the big boxing match is at The Forum. The city’s Battery and waterfront districts also appear.

Virgo says he’s getting the most from his cast, and from Halifax’s inner city.

‘There’s moments with Danny Glover when I’m in the director’s chair and I forget to say ‘cut,’ as I just become part of the audience,’ he says.

Poor Boy’s Game comes from a script by Halifax-based Chaz Thorne, who won the Telefilm Canada pitch contest at the 2001 Toronto International Film Festival. As he continued developing the project, Thorne brought Virgo on board as a cowriter and director, while longtime Virgo collaborator Damon D’Oliveira cast about for financing.

D’Oliveira, who produces through his and Virgo’s Conquering Lion Pictures, decided against bringing on international coproduction partners to retain total creative control. Thorne produces through his Standing 8 Productions.

Instead, Poor Boy’s Game has a patchwork of financing, including funding from Telefilm Canada, the Nova Scotia Film Development Corporation, The Harold Greenberg Fund, the Ontario Media Development Corporation, the Canadian Television Fund, and licence fees from the CBC, The Movie Network and Movie Central.

Glover (Lethal Weapon 1-4, Saw) liked the script from the get-go, says Virgo, but working around the schedule of the busy actor and social activist required patience. Glover was in Halifax for the first three days of shooting, left for another shoot, and returned July 3 for the duration of the production to July 14.

Other cast members with regular TV work, such as Alexander (One on One) and Tonya Lee Williams (The Young and the Restless) had to squeeze the shoot into their scant free time during the summer.

‘We were very aware of the new TV season starting production in the middle of July,’ says D’Oliveira.

Sutherland (ER, Monk), the son of Donald Sutherland and Francine Racette, dropped 15 pounds to get trim for the film’s boxing scenes.

With its theme of racial clash and reconciliation, Poor Boy’s Game has obvious potential for the U.S. market, while the overseas markets may embrace Virgo and Thorne’s message that hope and forgiveness should trump hatred and vengeance. Seville Pictures, which has the Canadian distribution rights, is shopping the picture internationally.

D’Olievera says a few U.S. mini-majors have already shown interest, but he’s waiting until the year-end, when the film is fully posted, to carve out a festival release schedule that may include Sundance, Berlin and Cannes.