Goon (2012)

6.9 of 10

Personal Bias Alert:  Knows nothing about hockey, likes violence in sports

            While I don’t know much about hockey, I’ve always had a healthy respect for the people who play it.  A more unforgiving sport is difficult to find; it’s incredibly violent, played on ice, and fisticuffs are encouraged.  As far as the fights, I’ve never understood why they’re condoned, although I think they actually exist in a grey area where they’re technically against the rules but are allowed to play out for traditions sake.  What I didn’t know going into “Goon” was that there are hockey players whose primary role is to fight and check opposing players to deter them from playing too aggressively.  Goon is a term used to describe such a player, and with that knowledge you can probably figure out what this movie is about.

            Doug (Seann William Scott) is an aimless young man with one very special skill:  he’s a hell of a fighter.  When Doug’s skill is put on display at a local hockey game, he is offered a job as a goon for the hometown team.  He excels and quickly moves up to the minor leagues, where a former NHL enforcer named Ross “The Boss” Rhea (an excellent Liev Schreiber) has been demoted to an opposing team to finish his career.  Rhea previously had a run-in with Doug’s teammate Xavier Laflamme (Marc-Andre Grondin) that knocked off the trajectory of Laflamme’s career.  Doug’s team pride links him strongly to Laflamme, and a showdown between Rhea and Doug becomes inevitable.

            Everything in “Goon” is a charming assemblage of sports comedy formulas, with familiar characters (a troubled but talented star, an aging hero) and plot arcs (will the team make the playoffs?).  A lesser film would have stumbled on the clichés, but “Goon” is imbued with a loving energy that makes it difficult to dislike.  The whole thing feels like a passion project, and writer/actor Jay Baruchel has stated that he wanted to make the movie after noticing a lack of hockey comedies being produced.  Using the book “Goon:  The True Story of an Unlikely Journey into Minor League Hockey” (was there really not a better name?) as a basis, Baruchel and fellow writer Evan Goldberg produced a lovingly silly script that makes you feel good even when it takes some missteps.

            And missteps there are, most notably in an inconsequential romantic subplot and in Baruchel’s own character.  Baruchel plays Doug’s best friend, a crass ball of energy that pops off the screen in a distracting way.  I’m not a fan of crass humor for the sake of crass humor, and the character has little other purpose.  He’s not onscreen too much, though, so his annoying nature never overpowers the film’s goodwill.  Meanwhile, Doug’s romantic interest played by Alison Pill fails to pop at all, and the whole subplot feels like an afterthought.  I remember very much enjoying Pill as Zelda Fitzgerald in “Midnight in Paris,” and I wish she had brought the same amount of energy to this role.  Although, to be fair, she isn’t given much to do here.

            Despite the failings of those two characters, Doug, the titular goon, is a pitch-perfect center of the film.  He may be a better fighter than everyone but Rhea, but he has an even-keeled nature that stops him from using his powers out of turn.  He’s loyal, decent, and sweet while still understanding that violence has a place in life.  I’m not a Seann William Scott aficionado, but I don’t recall him being this big before.  I assume he put on weight for the role, and that physical presence lets him believably sift around in Doug’s multifaceted personality.  The film itself is a reflection of Doug:  a goofy, violent contradiction that you enjoy hanging out with.

           Other Notes:

Ø  Can this cast/crew be more Canadian?

Ø  Read the Wikipedia entry on this movie if you want to see how many of the incidents are based on real NHL occurrences.  These guys know their hockey.

Ø  I mentioned that this is a comedy, but I don’t think I ever mentioned if it was funny.  It is.

Ø  “You know they just want you to bleed, right?”  I could write the entire review around that line.

Ø  I really had trouble scoring this movie.  It exudes goodwill, but its faults are too glaring to warrant a really high score.  Please note that it’s getting a very loving 6.9.