Hockey in Canada is what Cricket is to India. It’s a sport that is followed religiously and is something Canadian’s are quite proud of. Well now Hockey has been given a different kind of spotlight with the release of Goon, a new film by Take Me Home Tonight Director Michael Dowse. This film is co-written by Canadians Evan Goldberg & Jay Baruchel.
The story revolves around Doug Glatt (Seann William Scott), a local bouncer who is quite nice but unintelligent. Coming from a family of two doctors, he is always looked down upon by those around him and thus spends much of his time with close-friend Pat Hoolihan (Jay Baruchel), an individual who has a rather unorthodox way of expressing himself. One day, at a minor league game, a friendly round of taunts went south concluding with Doug beating the living daylights out of a player. This changed his life forever. The head coach of the local team gave him a call and asked him to come out for tryouts, eventually offering him the job of enforcer. Now in the professional world of Hockey, this bouncer is put head to head with the leagues big boys, including the league’s legendary enforcer Ross Rhea (Liev Schreiber).
An enforcer is an unofficial hockey role, who’s main purpose is to respond to the oppositions violent play with, well, violence. Goon, the title of the film, is simply another name given to an enforcer. The film takes a moment to look at Hockey from a different perspective. Often, a sports film focuses around the obvious stories: the epic match, the star player, the moment of glory. Goon, however, is more about individual capacity; how a man with no talent can still change the way people around him think. It is a bit cheesy but this film does have its unique elements.
The creative minds behind the film, especially Baruchel & Goldberg, have definitely taken a few risks with this film. Hockey is something you don’t want to meddle with unless you’re going to do it properly. The film features great Hockey elements. Game play on the ice is well filmed and that feel you get in a Hockey stadium is definitely captured on screen. One thing that really stood out was the soundtrack. The music is paired perfectly with the film, adding that extra oomph to the different scenes. One risk that was probably a bit much was playing around with touchy subjects. With Doug’s family being Jewish & elements of drugs & sex being tossed around (no pun intended), some elements just didn’t work together to create a solid story. Also, Pat does come off as quite vulgar and extended shots with him babbling vulgar statements just becomes annoying. It’s funny, but that’s really about it.
While the creative boffins put together a great showcase of hockey game play, the film as a whole did fall short in a few places. The one thing that makes a film like this memorable are the moments where the characters get to shine. Scott & Schreiber showcase some good acting in the film, adding their own personal flare to their characters. Alison Pill, who plays Eva, is just adorable in this movie, bringing her usual dose of cuteness to the movies mix of beat downs and blood. However, as good as all their performances were, the film didn’t have a lot of depth and drama, two things you’d expect from a Hockey film. Sure, there are emotional scenes but there wasn’t an opportunity for the audience to truly dive into each of these characters and escape, for but a moment, from all the violence and the witty jokes. Some of the actors, especially Alison & Liev, didn’t have as much screen time as you would have hoped. The movie created the foundation for a good sports film really well. It unfortunately didn’t build anything afterwards.
This film is properly entertaining. You get to see some nice performances and a story that is quite new to the sports category. If you are going to go see this for good fun or to see something Hockey related, you are definitely in for a treat. However, if you are going to expect to be vowed with epic elements, there unfortunately you will be disappointed.
Goon is now playing in theater’s across Canada. For screening times, visit your local theater. Goon is distributed by Alliance Films.
The film is Rated R for brutal violence, non-stop language, some strong sexual content and drug use. View discretion is advised.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sytVoTYFT08]
