A Good #@%&ing Movie

Rating: 8/10 (13 February 2005)

Some artists paint in oils. Hockey players paint in curses. There had never really been the ultimate hockey movie before Slap Shot came out in 1977. As a matter of fact, I don't know if there was a hockey movie before 1977. It does not matter, as Slap Shot is the only hockey movie worth discussing. Hockey is a funny sport. It has lots of action, fighting, men who drink buckets of beer. Why has this not become a more popular sport??????? All of the charm of being in the world of hockey is captured in this movie, written by Nancy Dowd (North Dallas Forty, Ordinary People) and directed by George Roy Hill (Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Sting), on ice action is only matched by off ice shenanigans involving a minor league hockey team that will be folding at the end of the season. Paul Newman plays an old, ready-to-retire-4-years-ago player coach who has to motivate a bad team that is about to fold after the local plant shuts down. The lasting image of the movie is of course The Hanson Brother, 3 lugnuts straight out of Canada who only know how to fight. Their fighting leads the team into a "new attitude" that makes them the most feared team in the entire league. They ride the fighting all the way to the top, at the expense of self pride in some of the players. There is lots of cursing, but it roughly captures the spirit of a hockey game, so don't be put-off by the four letter words. You also do not have to be a hockey fan to get the movie either. There is enough human aspects to the movie to entertain most audiences, and the comedy is brash and hilarious.