What a Great Goon

                     In the world of hockey, there is something that’s known as a “goon.” A goon is what’s also known as an Enforcer, an unofficial job in Hockey. The job of the Enforcer is to respond to violent plays from the opposing team. The response is usually expected to be either a big check (basically throwing your body into another players body) or a fight will break out. This is in many ways the plot line of the new hard hitting (pun intended) comedy, Goon. Michael Dowse, who previously directed the 2011 film Take Me Home Tonight, directs the film. The movie is based off of the novel “Goon: The True Story of an Unlikely Journey into Minor League Hockey,” written by Adam Frattasio and Doug Smith. The film stars comedic actor Sean William Scott, along with Liev Schreiber, and Jay Baruchel.

            The film immediately draws you in as the first thirty seconds start with small humorous hockey banter, a fist fight and blood splatter slowly dripping onto the ice floor as the title of the film, “GOON” appears. Then a tooth slowly falls and the words, “I think I nailed him,” can be heard. This, for the most part, informs the audience of the movies theme and some of the humor that is apparent throughout. Although with this film it’s completely okay, because right off the bat you know this movie is aiming for laughs and entertainment value, not necessarily Oscar nominations. This is without a doubt a film that was made to watch with a couple of buddies and to enjoy. This is not a film that was made with an artistic style and is aiming to be a good film. It really is solely aiming to be a good comedy. However, I will say that this film does have it’s fair share of interesting camera angles though, such as during the main characters first big game when the camera turns into the puck and in a point of view type shot, your are being passed from player to player giving the audience the feeling the intensity and frenzy of what it might be like on the ice. 

            Sean William Scott plays the character of Doug Glatt, a bouncer quickly turned hockey player. The film is partially based off of the life story of old Hockey player Doug Smith who played from 79’ until 1992 when he retired. Smith was, similarly to the character in the film not great at Hockey but really good at fighting. What makes Smith stand out among other hockey players is that he really wasn’t that good at Hockey. The film takes place in the current time and strays from the actual history of Smith such as adding in a love interest and a rivalry to make it more of a plotline. Personally, I didn’t mind that these clichés were in the film and I enjoyed that this character is different from the normal one Sean William Scott tends to play.

The character is not really vulgar at all, which is a switch up, and somewhat refreshing. I noticed that through out the film Scott made a lot of character choices that improved on the movie. For example through out the film, Scott does not tend to move around a lot. He does move, but he usually keeps his body somewhat tight and restrained. He seems like he is in a state of calm, even when he is yelling at his parent, he does so in a somewhat whispering tone. The only exception to this is when Glatt is fighting or goes out onto the ice to play hockey and fight. It almost seems as the character/actor was storing up their energy for these moments of fighting.

            Sean William Scott was definitely the right choice for a film like this. He has his funny moments throughout and I think it has a lot to do with the actor’s choices through out the film. One such moment is Glatt’s conversation with his new found semi-rival Ross Rhea (Liev Schreiber). The Mustached rival tells him he’s gonna beat his ass and then pretty much stands up and leaves the restaurant, Glatt (sitting there alone) reaches across the table and eats his toast. 

           The side characters in the film add to the comedic humor of situations such as his best friend played by Jay Baruchel who has been in films such as Knocked Up, She’s Out Of My League, and Sorcerers Apprentice. A great scene involving Jay’s character Ryan is when Glatt first goes out onto the ice for his first time ever to try out for the hockey team. He walks out onto the ice with figure skates on instead of hockey skates and the team starts to laugh. Ryan, who is filming all of it from the stands, yells, “Hey, what’s a matta, you ‘ve never seen figya skates before? He got em’ from his gay brother!”

            The film has a very small range of emotion through out the film from funny upbeat comedy to a semi-dramatic moment. The film has a good plotline and even though you can pretty much guess what the film is going to be about, from pretty much the beginning, it honestly takes nothing away from the entertainment value. This film was made to be enjoyed. The biggest flaw that I see in the movie is that there are parts in the story that are left completely open and are just not talked about such as his parents no longer believing in him.

            Overall, this was a good quality movie and I would definitely watch it again. There is a large entertainment value to this movie, and it’s simply fun to watch. The plot line isn’t the greatest, however the different choices made by the main actor make the film insanely better and very enjoyable. I would recommend this to anyone who is a fan of Hockey or Sean William Scott.