Plot
Labeled an outcast by his brainy family, a bouncer overcomes long odds to lead a team of under performing misfits to semi-pro hockey glory, beating the crap out of everything that stands in his way.
Release Year: 2011
Rating: 7.4/10 (3,487 voted)
Director:
Michael Dowse
Stars: Seann William Scott, Jay Baruchel, Alison Pill
Storyline Labeled an outcast by his brainy family, a bouncer overcomes long odds to lead a team of under performing misfits to semi-pro hockey glory, beating the crap out of everything that stands in his way.
Writers: Jay Baruchel, Evan Goldberg
Cast: Seann William Scott
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Doug Glatt
Jay Baruchel
-
Ryan
Alison Pill
-
Eva
Liev Schreiber
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Ross Rhea
Eugene Levy
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Dr. Glatt
Marc-André Grondin
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Xavier Laflamme
Kim Coates
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Ronnie Hortense
Nicholas Campbell
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Rollie Hortense
Richard Clarkin
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Gord Ogilvey
Jonathan Cherry
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Marco Belchier
Ricky Mabe
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John Stevenson
George Tchortov
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Evgeni
Karl Graboshas
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Oleg
Larry Woo
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Park Kim
Steve Sim
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Backup Goalie
(as Stephen Sim)
Taglines:
Meet Doug, The Nicest Guy You'll Ever Fight.
Trivia: Jay Baruchel wanted to adapt the novel into a film after noticing a lack of hockey comedies in recent years.
Goofs:
Continuity:
In the second last home game of the season, Xavier LaFlamme is assessed a high sticking penalty. As he enters the penalty box, he is wearing an assistant captain's 'A' on his jersey, despite having lost the assistant captaincy to Doug Glatt earlier in the season.
Quotes: Marco:
Two rules, man: Stay away from my f*&kin' percocets and do you have any f&*king percocets, man?
User Review
A lot of fun when you embrace the ridiculousness of it all
Rating: 7/10
I plead ignorance: I have never seen Slap Shot, the holy grail of non-
Mighty Ducks hockey films. When I ventured into the world premiere of
Michael Dowse's Goon over a month ago at the Toronto International Film
Festival, I felt like I missed out on required reading. But while it
may be deeply indebted to the Paul Newman classic, I think Goon still
manages to be unique enough that it works pretty well on its own.
Doug Glatt (Seann William Scott) is a loser. His father and brother are
doctors, yet he is stuck as a bouncer in a seedy Orangetown bar. A
rather heinous act of self-defense at a local hockey game gets him
noticed and brought in to play in the minors as a goon, someone who
fights with others and protects his smaller teammates. He does so
incredibly well that he is quickly drafted to a semi-professional team
in Canada, where his main goal is to protect star player Xavier
LaFlamme (Marc-Andre Grondin), who has not played the same since a
brutal hit from the legendary Ross 'The Boss' Rhea (Live Schreiber).
Goon is the type of movie that begs not to be taken seriously. If the
synopsis was not enough, then the key opening shot, a bloody tooth
falling in slow motion over classical music, is an obvious suggestion
of the borderline ludicrous film that follows. There is nothing subtle
that occurs at all, everything is incredibly blatant and wildly
over-the-top (and frequently incredibly gritty and disgusting). The
film wears its pride for the sport on its sleeve, and sometimes goes to
ridiculous lengths to make sure you always know that. While hockey
seems to be an oddly frequent theme in Canadian pictures in the past
year or so, this was the first one I saw that had the sport front and
centre – not simply existing as an underlying theme or plot device.
But what sets it apart from the other Canadian hockey films is its
glorification of violence and carnage on ice. Glatt's main objective is
to destroy and take out the other players, and everyone around him is
constantly stressing that. While we get to witness the struggle he has
trying to understand if there will ever be anything more for him, the
film still paints him in the corner of always needing to fight, which
leads to some horrifically bloody battles. Dowse does not shy away from
how violent the sport can be; instead he makes it incredibly gratuitous
and takes it dangerously close to the limits of decency. I laughed at
how silly the violence became, but I was surprised at just how gory it
was in many instances. It will no doubt cause a minor controversy, and
I would not be surprised if a lot of people ignore the fact that the
film is one of the few to actually deal with the topic head-on.
Goon is also set apart through its rather colourful use of profanity,
specifically at the hands of Jay Baruchel's Pat Houlihan. He adapted
and co-wrote the script with Seth Rogen's usual writing partner Evan
Goldberg , and spices up almost every line with a unique expletive.
Some are too overdone for their own good, but others are near perfect.
They lead to some rather hysterical one-liners more often than not, and
help shape the film around the hockey. I found it particularly amusing
that Baruchel gets to be the most vulgar of anyone in the script,
allowing him to provide the most laughs and steal scenes from everyone.
It also makes the film, at least in my mind, a bit more authentic to
the sport itself. It can be family orientated as some films have tried
to suggest, but it is much more at ease when it is adult.
If I hold anything against the film (outside of the ending I wanted so
much more from), it is that no one is really developed at all. We get
to see a few different shades of Scott's Glatt, but no one else in the
film changes. They are one-dimensional all around, with some minor
throwaway moments that could have been used to better characterize
them. It feels like a missed opportunity, even with the short running
time, and nearly puts the talented cast to waste. Even Scott himself
seems to be having trouble trying to really make something of his
character. They all make the most of what they are given, but it seems
like the acting must have come a close third to the sensationalizing of
hockey and the glorifying of violence.
That said, Scott does a lot better in the role than I want to give him
credit for. He is very meek throughout, and is always downplaying the
character. He is the complete opposite of Stifler, and shows that he
has some range. Schreiber is great as Ross, but he leaves the film for
far too many interludes. Same goes for Kim Coates as the head coach of
Glatt's team, who never appears on screen for nearly long enough.
Sadly, Grondin and Alison Pill, as Glatt's love interest, seem to fare
the worst of anyone. They get so very little to do, despite their
importance in the film. They just end up looking awkward and out of
place more often than not, almost like they do not belong at all.
In the end, there is a lot of fun to be had watching Goon, especially
if you really embrace the ridiculousness of it all. It is a really
silly film, but manages to be enjoyable even with the massive flaws
that plague it. With a little more work, it could have been one of the
best sports movies ever. Instead, it will have to contend with being
the best among a long string of Canadian hockey movies that will
hopefully end sooner rather than later.
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