Goon (2011)

Number Rolled: 72

Movie Name/Year: Goon (2011)

Tagline: Meet Doug, the nicest guy you’ll ever fight.

Genre: Comedy

Length: 91 minutes

Rating: R

Production Companies: No Trace Camping, Caramel Film, Don Carmody Productions, Inferno Pictures Inc.

Producer: Jay Baruchel, Theodore Bressman, Don Carmody, Jesse Chabot, Valérie d'Auteuil, Ian Dimerman, Hartley Gorenstein, David Gross, Kyle Hunter, André Rouleau, Ariel Shaffir, Jesse Shapira, Ben Silverman, Mark Slone

Director: Michael Dowse

Writer: Jay Baruchel, Evan Goldberg, Adam Frattasio, Douglas Smith

Actors: Seann William Scott, Jay Baruchel, Alison Pill, Liev Schreiber, Eugene Levy, Marc-André Grondin, Kim Coates, Nicholas Campbell, Richard Clarkin, Jonathan Cherry, Ricky Mabe, George Tchortov, Karl Graboshas, Larry Woo, Stephen Sim, Ellen David, David Paetkau, Mike Bell, Jeff Strome, Jeff Wahl

Stunt Doubles: Sean Dutiaume, Travis Kornelsen, Joey Moggach, Dan Skene, Anders Strome

Languages

Speech Available: English

Subtitles Available: English

Blurb from Netflix: When he’s seen dispatching a rude opposing hockey player in the stands, Doug Glatt is hired by a rival team… for his fighting skills.

Selina’s Point of View:

I’ve been hearing really great things about Goon for a very long time. Being a huge fan of Jay Baruchel (How to Train Your Dragon, The Art of the Steal, This is the End), I couldn’t wait to see for myself. However, I’m NOT the biggest fan Seann William Scott (Cop Out, Role Models, The Dukes of Hazzard) – which made me feel iffy about the whole thing going in.

To be fair, I’ve only seen Scott in some really stupid-ass movies. In each of those films, he’s supposed to act like a dumbass. I fell into a very easy trap because of that. When people get type-cast, it’s easy to start thinking that they take on those roles because it’s all they’re capable of. I’m ashamed to say I fell for this one. I wish I hadn’t, because – holy shit guys – Seann William Scott is a fucking ACTOR. If Scott ever sees this, I fucking apologize. You deserve way more credit than I’ve given you in the past.

I believed every single aspect of his character. So much so, that I didn’t even doubt the authenticity of the “based on a true story” aspect. He made his character simultaneously relatable and larger than life. That’s an incredibly difficult feat.

I thoroughly enjoyed this film. Some of the humor was super juvenile, but I still laughed. That’s what matters. It was absolutely entertaining. Not all true stories can be entertaining. I’m sure they exaggerated some aspects for the story to really stand out… but who cares?

This movie isn’t for everyone. Like I said, some of the comedy was what some would deem inappropriate. Of course, I’m completely in love with Kevin Smith (Zack and Miri Make a Porno, Clerks, Mallrats) so “juvenile” and “inappropriate” are right in my wheel-house.

Chances are, if you like Smith’s work, you’ll like this. I would definitely recommend it.

Cat’s Point of View:

When I told my husband which movie was next for the blog, he practically cackled. I’ve mentioned before how sports just isn’t entirely my thing, right? Lo and behold, we’d rolled a hockey movie.

I’ve also begun to think that, perhaps, our “wall o’ movies” has taken on a life of its own – apparently we own the blu-ray for this one and I hadn’t realized. We still watched it on Netflix, durnit!

This was not, however, a film that we were able to let our daughter watch. Aside from the inherent violent aspect of the movie, it had really the over the top explicit language and that reinforced the R rating.

On to the movie!

I’d actually been interested in this film since it first came to my attention through our rolling list. The combination of Seann William Scott (Planet 51, American Reunion, Ice Age: Continental Drift) and Liev Schreiber (Lee Daniel's The Butler, The 5th Wave, The Bleeder) was what really got my attention. What sort of sports movie would have such a goofball like Scott with Schrieber’s intensity? This one, obviously.

I tip my hat to Jay Baruchel (RoboCop, Don Peyote, Man Seeking Woman) for his involvement in penning this comedic, yet heartfelt tale of finding your place in the world.

This wasn’t exactly the role that I expected for Scott. It seems like the industry has generally type-cast him; but this movie breaks that stereotype. That’s not to say the same elements Scott’s characters are generally known for aren’t in the film – because there’s plenty of that raunchy humor. It’s just not from him. In a similar vein, Eugene Levy’s (Over the Hedge, Astro Boy, Madea's Witness Protection) character in this movie is quite far removed from his previous screen-time shared with Scott.

I liked that this movie took a comedic peek behind the scenes at one of the things that the sport of Hockey is best known for – the fighting. That said, there are other nuances woven into the story that layer in things like self-discovery and romance without diminishing the overall sports and comedic feel.

Overall, I think this movie has a great balance of its elements and I really enjoyed it more than I even initially thought. I’m actually looking forward to the sequel coming out sometime in 2017. It’s currently in post-production, so we’ll see.

Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – 82%

Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – 70%

Netflix’s Prediction for Selina – 4/5

Selina’s Trust-the-Dice Score – 4.5/5

Netflix’s Prediction for Cat – 4/5

Cat’s Trust-the-Dice Score – 4/5

P.S. Movie is based on a true story. During part of the credits, parts of the actual footage of what happened play.

Movie Trailer: