'GOON' - Movie Review

By James Pearcey Jan 5, 2012, 22:58 GMT

A hockey match is about to begin:  one of the players player turns to someone on the other team and asks ‘You wanna go?’  - the other replies ‘Yes’ –the two wish each other good luck and as the puck drops;  they turn, throw their gloves off and proceed to beat each other to a pulp.  Welcome to the world of Goon – an entire landscape dominated by violence and a strange sense of foolish masculine honour.

The film follows the story of Doug Glatt a happy simpleton works as a bouncer at a local bar and beats people if the boss requires him to do so.  After a brutal confrontation at a local hockey match a coach notices his talent for doling out a fierce beating and gives him a shot, swiftly followed by a cool and perfunctory training montage which eventually leads to him hitting the big league and ending up working as the titular ‘goon’ for a major team.  Add some familial tension, the wacky best friend and the obligatory romance sub plot and you got yourself the entire movie.

Although ‘Goon’ is as formulaic as can be and feels most of the time like a script from the Judd Apatow reject pile; in a weird way the whole thing adds to the strange sense of charm the films has.  The pap sentiment and long winded chatty nonsense you would normally get in these sports movies is dropped in favour of action and oddly sweet characters.

In fact the word sweet is a good way to describe the film, almost naïve in its construction and writing  - the real shining light is Seann William Scott who plays Glatt wonderfully.  His clear joy in the character is played utterly straight and without any patronising tone or shred of sarcasm.  The same goes for the rest of the cast too and aside from some very dubious Canadian accents (Kim Coates just throws in an ‘ay’ every so often) everyone is really having a good time in the film.  A big part of this will be due to the work of the director Michael Dowse whose filmography has been built on character-based comedies.

Finally I have to make a note about the violence and the sheer brutalit as the film in some ways glorifies violence but at the same time presents it in such a way as to distinctly put you off ever wanting to step into a hockey ring.  The relentless pounding Glatt receives normally is vicious and in some cases almost unwatchable.  I will say that this might not be one for you if you are at all squeamish!

Goon will win no awards, it will get beaten down a great deal, but like Glatt himself it will take the beating and still keep standing.