Goon

Rating: 5/10 (23 September 2012)

I'm not sure whether I heard about this film during the time of release, I may have seen a trailer, but I knew it was relatively popular, so I decided to give it a try, from director Michael Dowse (It's All Gone Pete Tong). Basically Doug Glatt (Seann William Scott) is just an average Massachusetts bouncer at a Beantown bar who is a bit of an embarrassment to his family, and he feels he's a little worthless and dreaming of something else, specifically becoming like his hero, minor league hockey goon Ross 'The Boss' Rhea (Liev Schreiber). It is while attending a game at the ice rink with his friend Pat (Jay Baruchel) that a fight breaks out between a player and Doug that he is spotted by the coach of the Halifax Highlanders and given the chance to become part of the team. Training starts slow and with hardly any experience of ice skating or hockey itself he takes a little while to adapt, but soon enough his attitude comes in handy and he is set to go in for his first official minor league game. Soon enough, after beating opponents, sometimes literally, Doug becomes a key member of the team and rises to stardom, with Pat, his gay brother Ira (David Paetkau) and many fans admiring the rising star. Along the way Doug also meets hockey fan, or puck bunny they can be called, Eva (Alison Pill), and, to his surprise, after some time it is obvious they are becoming romantically involved. He gets his big opportunity to prove himself when he is to go against his idol and the rest of the Shamrocks, Ross has returned from suspension and is not afraid to really beat the opposition, to a very bloody extent. In the end, after such a violent game, Doug takes a great hit for his team, and his team are victorious, Rhea is defeated with his nose broken, and Eva and Doug comfort each other in the locker room. Also starring Kim Coates as Ronnie Hortense, Eugene Levy as Dr. Glatt, Marc-André Grondin as Xavier LaFlamme, Nicholas Campbell as Rollie Hortense, Richard Clarkin as Gord Ogilvey and Jonathan Cherry as Marco Belchier. Having spent four film being a sex-obsessed jerk and having better success than the most of the other American Pie stars it is good Scott doing a bit of a more sensitive but still humorous performance, the hockey games full of action and blood spill are exciting, and the love story in the plot is a nice touch as well, I admit I did slip out at times, but is an alright comedy based on a true story. Worth watching!