Alternate title: Future Brain Damage Cases of Canada

Rating: 7/10 (25 May 2012)

The hero of Goon is a kid who's a bit dumb and a bit crass but has a good heart. He plays a pretty ignominious position, that of the goon -- the hockey player who isn't really too good at hockey but is really good at fighting with people. It's a vulgar role, but he takes it seriously. And that kind of describes the movie as well. It's dumb and a bit puerile, but warm-hearted, usually funny (including some laugh-out-loud lines), and charming in how accepting it is of dingy minutia like minor-league hockey.
One could fault it for lack of ambition: the film comes and goes without leaving much of an impression, but that's also a part of its charm. Even at being a lazy Saturday night comedy it doesn't wholly succeed -- characters like the protagonist's gay brother and his mercurial love interest never really justify their screen time, mainly because of how spastically Goon jumps between plot threads. But it's a pleasant enough experience that would go down well with a couple of beers, and that's really all you can ask for.