patricio-53898 The great thing about Goon is that, when you get right down to it, it's not a sports movie. It's not even really about hockey in the sticks and skates sense of the word. Any fan of hockey can tell you, to great length, about the bizarre and unique position of the Goon, a player with minimal hockey skills, who is utilized solely to defend the more talented players, keep defenders from the opposing team honest, and beat the snot out of someone, should the need arise. It's a niche talent, yet an important one in terms of motivation, spirit, and tone of a hockey team. That's what this movie is about. It's about utilizing the gifts you were given, carving out a place in the world for you and your talents, and the basic human need to belong to something greater, a team, a romantic relationship, a family. The movie goes out of its way to tell you that protagonist Doug "The Thug" Glatt is NOT a hockey player. All Doug wants is to wear a uniform and use his talents to help the people he cares about, and I think we can all relate to that. On a more technical note, the performances of the film are exceptional, particularly those of Seann William Scott, who gives the best performance of his career, for my money, as the simple, kind-hearted Glatt, and Liev Schreiber as another veteran Goon, Ross "The Boss" Rhea, looking to go out swinging. It also features hilarious performances from Jay Baruchel as the wisecracking best friend, and Kim Coates, Kim Coates-ing it up as the coach of Halifax. But what surprised me was how well the movie functions as both a comedy and a surprisingly sweet love story. Long story short, don't let the title of this movie throw you off. Goon is an excellent film.

jtncsmistad With the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs getting under way this week (of 4/10/16), I thought it would be fun to dip into the archives for my review of the 2011 dramedy hockey flick "Goon".Right off the bat (or "stick" in the case of this hockey comedy/drama) I thought that "Goon" was going to be really stupid and that I'd made a big mistake in ordering the DVD. But I decided to give it a chance. And I'm glad I did.This is a flick that could have been a silly and over-the-top throwaway. But thankfully the film makers together with a commendable cast took the story in a whole different direction. And they wound up with a fresh and engaging take on friendship, love and loyalty.Seann William Scott is blissfully ignorant as a man/child with the capacity to become a fearsome enforcer. His character says those bluntly candid things we all would like to if we didn't have a filter. Alison Pill is his too-cute-to-take girlfriend who falls helplessly for the big guy's honestly innocent charm. The seemingly ever-under appreciated Liev Schreiber delivers a memorable turn as an aging hockey thug giving it one last roundhouse swing as he rides the downhill slide to the end of a black-and-blue career. And Jay Baruchel is just flat-out funny and whacked-out as hell as Scott's best friend.Be cautioned, however. The violence is jarring and brutal. But, hey, no one ever confused Pro Hockey with playing patty-cake.This one could have been mindless. The good news is that it not only has a brain, but a big ol' heart to go along with it.

NateWatchesCoolMovies I'm not usually one for sports movies. In fact I think I can count on one hand the ones I actually, really enjoyed. Goon, however, which skates miles ahead of all the others, is my favorite sports movie ever made, and one of my top comedies, period. It's written, acted and conveyed to its audience with such rowdy enthusiasm and earnest, lifelike character interaction that simply demands classic status. It's a film about hockey, but it's also not. It's mainly a film about dudes kicking the absolute ever loving crap out of each other, in some really impressive ice rink gladiatorial smackdowns to rival anything in Gladiator itself. It concerns players who are drafted based on their brute force alone, to distract, demolish and destroy their opposing team members, leaving the ice clear for the faster, more skilled players to go score a ton of goals. One such 'goon' is Doug Glatt (Sean William Scott), a big lovable dunce with a peanut brain, kind heart and the sheer force of a juggernaut hurricane when on the ice. Scott ditches the Stiffler shtick for a quieter brand of silliness, and he's never been better. When his brutal tactics are witnessed by small time coach '' Hortense (Nicholas Campbell, loopy perfection), he's sent to the farm leagues under the snarky rule of his brother, Coach Ronnie Hortense (Kim Coates). Saskatoon native Coates doesn't seem to know how to not steal any scene he's ever been in, and he's side-splitting here, a tornado of cynical, hopped up rage and pissy energy. His drunken speech is a highlight. Glatt soon meets his team, including spoiled golden boy prodigy turned relentless coke head Laflamme (Marc Andre Godin) skeevy Russian brothers Evgeny and Oleg, and hilarious Canadian whackjob Belchier (Jonathan Cherry). They're a pissss poor motley crew of morons, and they're losing their season spectacularly. Glatt's sweet disposition, blind optimism and invincible uppercuts soon turn things around for the better, though, until he meets his nemesis, Ross Rhea (Liev Schreiber) another legendary thug with bone crunching plans for Doug. Schreiber is priceless, sporting a handlebar 'stache you could rope swing from, and a demented Canadian accent eh, clearly having the most fun in his career so far. Jay Baruchel shows up as Doug's crude DJ buddy, Alison Pill as Doug's slutty love interest, and Eugene Levy as his unappreciative father. The scenes of ice bound action are crisply filmed, the fight scenes exploding in triumphantly bloody standoffs of R rated glory. The humour comes hard and fast from a whip smart script that's faster than the puck, sharper than the skates and funnier than any other sports themed flick I've seen before.

g-bodyl I'm not a hockey fan by any stretch of the imagination, but Goon is a really funny, heart-warming film despite the film being hockey-based. But then again, this is a Canadian movie so a hockey film from Canada is not surprising at all. But the film goes beyond the sport and into the realm of its characters. The film is mostly based off the characters and their relationships with each other. Making friendships and finding love are some common themes here. However, the entertainment level is on full gear as we get some very brutal fights and lots of blood. The film is extremely violent, which may be a turn-off for some people expecting a film like 2004's Miracle.Michael Dowse's film is about a man named Doug Glatt who heralds from an educated family and works as a bouncer at a bar, even though he seems dim-witted to a degree. But at a hockey game, he protects his best friend from a vicious hockey player by knocking him out cold which opens the eyes of the scouts. Despite disapproval from his parents, Doug gets a chance to shine as a enforcer for a minor league hockey team....and one of his rivals is a washed-up enforcer named Ross Rhea.The acting is actually pretty good. Seann William Scott is known for his role as Stifler in the American Pie series, but he does an excellent job playing the complete opposite as the nice, but really dumb Doug. Jay Baruchel is okay as Doug's friend, but maybe tone down his language a bit. Liev Schreiber does a fine job as Rhea. Eugene Levy makes a cameo as Doug's father.Overall, Goon turned out to be a pleasant surprise. It's much more than a sports film as it centers on a rags-to-rich story, which makes it all the better because of Doug's personality. There is enough blood and brawls to satisfy hockey fans or any sports fan in general. I'm not a hockey guy, but I was able to enjoy the film very much so because I pretty much saw the brawls as boxing on ice. It's a good, entertaining film. I rate this film 9/10.