Goon (film)

Goon is a 2011 Canadian sports comedy film directed by Michael Dowse,[3] written by Jay Baruchel and Evan Goldberg, and starring Seann William Scott, Jay Baruchel, Liev Schreiber, Alison Pill, Marc-André Grondin, Kim Coates and Eugene Levy. The film concerns the exceedingly nice but somewhat dimwitted Doug Glatt (Scott), who unexpectedly finds personal and professional fulfillment after becoming the enforcer for a minor league ice hockey team.

Goon
Theatrical release poster
Directed byMichael Dowse
Produced by
Written by
Starring
Music byRamachandra Borcar
CinematographyBobby Shore
Edited byReginald Harkema
Production
company
Distributed by
Release date
  • September 10, 2011 (2011-09-10) (TIFF)
  • February 24, 2012 (2012-02-24) (Canada)
Running time
92 minutes
CountryCanada
LanguageEnglish
Budget$12 million[1]
Box office$7 million[2]

Despite receiving largely positive reviews, the film was a box office disappointment, only earning $7 million against its $12 million budget. After premiering on Netflix it became an unexpected success, leading to an increase in DVD sales and VOD downloads, ultimately resulting in a sequel being greenlit.[4]

The sequel, Goon: Last of the Enforcers, was released on March 17, 2017, with Baruchel serving as director.[5]

Plot

Doug Glatt (Seann William Scott), is a polite, kind-hearted, but dimwitted bouncer at a bar in Massachusetts. Doug feels ostracized from society, especially since his father and brother are both successful physicians. Doug attends a minor league hockey game with his best friend Pat (Jay Baruchel). Pat taunts the visiting team during a fight and one of their players climbs into the stands, calling him a homophobic slur. Doug, whose brother is gay, steps in and easily beats up the opposing player. Soon after, Doug gets a phone call from the coach of his hometown team, who offers him a job as an enforcer.

Meanwhile, veteran enforcer and Doug's idol Ross "The Boss" Rhea (Liev Schreiber) is demoted to the minors after serving a 20-game suspension for slashing an opponent in the head from behind. Three years prior, Rhea hit and concussed the highly skilled prospect Xavier Laflamme (Marc-André Grondin), who has had trouble recovering from the incident due to his fear of being hit again. As a result, Laflamme is still stuck in the minors, playing for the Halifax Highlanders. As Doug's reputation grows, eventually earning the nickname "Doug the Thug," the Highlanders' coach hires Doug to protect Laflamme and be his roommate.

The Highlanders experience success with Doug as their enforcer, and he quickly becomes popular among fans and teammates, much to the chagrin of his parents and Laflamme, who loses ice time and the alternate-captaincy to Doug. Meanwhile, Doug becomes romantically involved with Eva (Alison Pill), a hockey fan with a penchant for sleeping with players.

With four games left on their schedule, the Highlanders need two wins to secure a playoff spot. On a road game in Quebec, after an opposing player concusses Laflamme with a heavy hit, Doug savagely beats the player unconscious and is suspended for the next game against Rhea and the St. John's Shamrocks. Doug encounters Rhea at a diner, where Rhea dismisses Doug's belief that he is a hockey player, insisting that they are both "goons". Though Rhea acknowledges Doug's physical prowess and gives Doug his respect, Rhea warns him that if they ever meet on the ice, he will "lay him the fuck out." The Highlanders, with Doug suspended and Laflamme hospitalized, lose to the Shamrocks. The aging captain of the Highlanders, an inexperienced fighter, challenges Ross to a fight, Ross offering a chance to back out but the player denies it, and Ross easily defeats him.

Doug reaches out to Laflamme and promises him he will always protect him on the ice; the incident touches Laflamme, who reconsiders his animosity towards Doug. In their next game, the Highlanders lead 1–0 thanks to strong teamwork between Doug and Laflamme. In the final seconds, Doug blocks a slapshot with his face and his ankle is injured in the ensuing scramble. Causing the Highlanders team to fight the other team at the end of the 3rd period. The Highlanders win, but need a win against Rhea and the Shamrocks in their last game for a playoff spot.

Eva breaks up with her boyfriend to be with Doug, asserting that Doug is who she's really in love with. Doug later allows her now-ex-boyfriend to beat him up, believing that he deserves it for coming between them.

After two periods, the Shamrocks are beating the Highlanders 2–0. Rhea and Doug mutually agree to fight in the third period. Although Rhea manages to knock him down when Doug re-breaks his recently injured ankle, Doug refuses to back down and eventually emerges victorious, knocking Rhea's tooth out. Ross smiles at seeing his tooth, satisfied that he lost to someone he considered a worthy opponent. Eva and his teammates help a seriously injured Doug off the ice and Laflamme, inspired by Rhea's defeat, scores a natural hat trick, giving the Highlanders a 3–2 lead. As the game enters its final minute, Eva comforts Doug in the locker room as he comments, "I think I nailed him."

Cast

Production notes

The film is an adaptation of the book Goon: The True Story of an Unlikely Journey into Minor League Hockey by Adam Frattasio and Doug Smith. Footage from Smith's career as an enforcer is shown during the film's credits, and Smith said in an interview with Grantland.com that he is happy with the finished film.[6] The book was discovered by Jesse Shapira and his producing partner David Gross. Along with Baruchel and Goldberg, they developed the script and then proceeded to package and independently finance the movie. It was the first film under their No Trace Camping banner.[7]

Former NHL enforcer Georges Laraque has a small role as an enforcer for the Albany Patriots. His character fights both Glatt and Rhea over the course of the film. He draws with Glatt and the outcome of his fight with Rhea is not shown. When Laraque's character fights Glatt, the dialogue closely resembles the dialogue used by Georges Laraque in a fight against Raitis Ivanāns in December 2006.[8]

Goon was filmed in Brandon, Portage la Prairie and Winnipeg, Manitoba.[9] Most of the hockey scenes were filmed at the Portage Credit Union Centre in Portage la Prairie, which substituted for the Halifax Metro Centre, the home arena for the Halifax Highlanders. Other scenes were filmed at the St. James Civic Centre in Winnipeg and Keystone Centre in Brandon. The MTS Centre was used for the home arena of the Quebec Victoires.[10][11]

The stick-swinging incident for which Rhea was suspended during the film's story bears a strong resemblance to an incident in the NHL when Marty McSorley of the Boston Bruins slashed Donald Brashear of the Vancouver Canucks in the head from behind on February 21, 2000. McSorley was suspended 23 games for the incident, which was extended to a full year after he was convicted of assault and sentenced to 18 months of probation. McSorley would never play another NHL game. Due to the slash and the fall on the ice, Brashear suffered a concussion, the same injury Laflamme suffered at the hands of Rhea in an unrelated incident.

Another infamous NHL incident alluded to in the film is the Boston Bruins climbing into the stands and fighting the fans at Madison Square Garden on December 23, 1979. This was provoked by a Rangers fan who slapped Stan Jonathan hard enough with a rolled-up program to draw blood, and subsequently stole Jonathan's stick. Mike Milbury infamously beat a fan with the fan's own shoe. Milbury was suspended for six games for his involvement in the altercation. His teammates Terry O'Reilly and Peter McNab were suspended for eight and six games respectively. All of the Bruins players were also punished with $500 fines, while the fan was charged with disorderly conduct.[12] It was also similar to an event in which a fan jumped into the penalty box with Tie Domi of the Toronto Maple Leafs on March 29, 2001.

The teams Doug Glatt plays for over the course of the film both reference the Philadelphia Flyers, an NHL team that became infamous for physically intimidating their opponents during the 1970s. Glatt's home team, the Orangetown Assassins, wear a uniform similar to the ones the Flyers wore during the 1980s, including the orange and black color scheme; perhaps coincidentally, the logo strongly resembles that of the Philadelphia Arrows, a minor league team that preceded the Flyers. The Halifax Highlanders employ a logo that is structured as the letter H with a circle signifying a puck on the right and wings on the left side of the letter; the Flyers logo has a similar design but with the letter P. The Highlanders team colors and name, however, are similar to those of the New York Islanders.

The scene in which Rhea becomes emotional during his suspension related press conference is a reference to former hockey forward and Vancouver Canuck Todd Bertuzzi. While playing for the Canucks, Bertuzzi punched Steve Moore of the Colorado Avalanche in the back of the neck, effectively ending his NHL career. Later during the press conference, Bertuzzi tearfully apologized for his actions that had him fined $500,000 and suspended for 17 months.[13]

Release

A red-band trailer for the film was released on IGN.[14]

In Toronto and Montreal, prior to its premiere, posters for the film were removed from city bus shelters after several complaints from the public due to Baruchel making a "sexually suggestive gesture with his tongue and fingers."[15][16]

The timing of the film's release was considered controversial by some as the previous summer featured the deaths of three NHL enforcers – Derek Boogaard, Rick Rypien and Wade Belak – all three of whom suffered from depression and head trauma that are believed to be factors in their deaths.[17]

Reception

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 81% based on 106 reviews, with an average rating of 6.5 out of 10. The website's critics consensus reads: "Goon is a crude slapstick comedy with well-formed characters and a surprising amount of heart."[18] On Metacritic the film has a score of 64 out of 100 based on reviews from 24 critics.[19]

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film 3 out of 4 stars, and wrote: "The charm of Goon is that Doug Glatt (Scott) is a genial guy from a nice family. Just because he hands out concussions doesn't mean he dislikes anybody. He's just happy to be wearing a uniform. "[20] Robert Koehler of Variety magazine praised the performances "The picture has a first-rate team of actors who visibly enjoy their roles and the sharp dialogue by Baruchel and Goldberg."[21] Stephen Holden, writing for The New York Times gave a positive review that credits all the major performances.[22]

Accolades

Goon was nominated for four awards at the 1st Canadian Screen Awards: Michael Dowse for Achievement In Direction, Jay Baruchel and Evan Goldberg for Best Adapted Screenplay, and Jay Baruchel and Kim Coates, both for Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role.[23]

Sequel
Main article: Goon: Last of the Enforcers

Baruchel wrote a sequel with Jesse Chabot. Michael Dowse was slated to return to direct but it was Baruchel who directed the film, making it his directorial debut.[24] Evan Goldberg produced the sequel.[25][26][27] The title of the film is Goon: Last of the Enforcers.[28]

Baruchel expressed interest in the possibility of a third film, "I don’'t want to get into trouble, and I'm not saying there's going to be a Goon 3," Baruchel says, "but there's more than one way to skin a cat. We're not done in this universe yet."[29]

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References
  1. "'Goon': The rowdy true story of a hockey enforcer". Entertainment Weekly. March 16, 2012. Retrieved September 1, 2017.
  2. "Goon (2010)". The Numbers. Retrieved June 25, 2015.
  3. Smith, Ian Hayden (2012). International Film Guide 2012. p. 83. ISBN 978-1908215017.
  4. Could Goon 3 Happen?
  5. "Jay Baruchel to Direct 'Goon' Sequel (Exclusive)".
  6. Rothbart, Davy (30 March 2012). "Q&A: Doug Smith, Hockey Enforcer". Grantland.com.
  7. "'Goon' a comedic love letter to hockey".
  8. "George Laraque v Raitis Ivanans".
  9. "IMDB Goon - Filming Locations".
  10. "Rural communities are going all out to build state-of-the-art sports facilities". Winnipeg Free Press. Winnipeg Free Press. Retrieved 7 July 2012.
  11. "Rural communities are going all out to build state-of-the-art sports facilities". Winnipeg Free Press. Retrieved 2012-03-23.
  12. Seminara, Dave. "Over The Glass and into Lore", The New York Times, Wednesday, December 23, 2009.
  13. "Goon (2011) - Trivia". IMDB. Retrieved 6 March 2013.
  14. "Goon - Red Band Trailer - IGN Video". 7 November 2011. Retrieved 30 April 2017.
  15. Scallan, Niamh; Tapper, Josh (22 February 2012). "Goon movie poster stripped from city bus shelters". Toronto Star. Toronto.
  16. "Contoversial [sic] 'Goon' movie poster allegedly removed from Montreal metro". News in Montreal. Archived from the original on 11 July 2012. Retrieved 23 December 2012.
  17. "Goon movie raises questions about hockey enforcers". CBC News. Retrieved 4 March 2013.
  18. "Goon". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved June 10, 2020.
  19. "Goon". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved June 10, 2020.
  20. Ebert, Roger. "Goon movie review & film sumary (2012)". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 2020-06-10.
  21. Koehler, Robert; Koehler, Robert (12 September 2011). "Goon". Variety (magazine).
  22. "A Brawler with a Soft Side ‘Goon,’ Directed by Michael Dowse", Stephen Holden, The New York Times, March 29, 2012
  23. "Nominees for the Canadian Screen Awards". 1st Canadian Screen Awards. Archived from the original on 2013-01-18. Retrieved 5 March 2013.
  24. "Jay Baruchel Makes His Directorial Debut With 'Goon: Last of the Enforcers' - ComingSoon.net". 16 May 2015.
  25. Goldberg, Matt (May 9, 2014). "Evan Goldberg Talks about GOON 2; Says They're Trying to Figure out Deals". Collider. Retrieved May 9, 2014.
  26. Connelly, Brendon (July 6, 2013). "Jay Baruchel Explains Plans for a Goon Sequel". bleedingcool.com. Retrieved July 6, 2013.
  27. Trumbore, Dave (September 25, 2012). "Jay Baruchel Tweets GOON 2 Update; Will Co-Write with Jesse Chabot and Michael Dowse Will Return to Direct; Evan Goldberg Will Produce". Collider. Retrieved September 25, 2012.
  28. "Elisha Cuthbert Joins Seann William Scott in Goon: Last of the Enforcers". ComingSoon.net. 8 June 2015.
  29. "With Goon sequel, Jay Baruchel hopes to usher in new era of Cancon". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2020-06-10.
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