The move that "coulda, woulda, shoulda"

Rating: 3/10 (3 April 2012)

As excited as I was at the news of a "Hockey Movie" being released, I was equally disappointed in the final product once I viewed it.
There were many elements in the film that offered glimmers of hope that the film could redeem itself in the end, and give at least an excuse for sitting through the many minutes of extreme violence and vulgarity peppered throughout.
It could have been a poignant, behind the scenes look into the world of minor league hockey in the style of "The Wrestler" with Mickey Rourke. Instead, it veered into highlighting some ridiculous characters that were mere cartoons of stereotypical perceptions of Eastern European players.
"Goon" would have been at least humorous, with one show-stopping line delivered by the love interest in the film, ala "American Pie". There is a line, repeated by the character Eva, that eventually has a punchline. Sadly, the film glides past this moment and does not allow it to have the impact that was its potential.
This movie should have dumped the vulgar, useless ramblings and antics of Ryan. Just about the time the viewer is interested enough to lean in and start to care about the developments on screen, this over-wound shock-jock wannabe pops up and turns the story into something useless again.
Nevermind the overuse of corn syrup and red dye #40, or the gratuitous violence. As a woman who grew up believing "it isn't sport unless you can lose teeth", I'm a hockey fan who understands there are many physical elements of the game which have nothing to do with getting the biscuit in the basket. The main antagonist in the movie, Ross Rhea, does an excellent job of pointing that out to our hero in a terrific scene between the two characters off the ice. We could have used more moments in the film of that caliber to carry us through the ridiculousness that was poorly delivered in the rest of the film.
In retrospect, I'm glad we viewed this through OnDemand, instead of paying the premium price that would have been paid in a theater. This film will not be added to our film library.