Goon (A)

DVD Review

FYI: This is an absurdly long movie review. Whether you are reading this on my blog or on Screened, please know that my other reviews are shorter.
Crafting a comedy is a very difficult thing to do. If the filmmakers truly go for every joke and try to make every moment laugh-out-loud funny, the movie ends up empty and soulless. If the filmmakers want to actually tell a meaningful story, they generally end up interrupting the humor and thus creating a tonally off-putting story (on average, would you say that the first half or second half of a comedy is better?). Goon is an excellent tale that manages to be funny all the time, yet still knows when to skip a joke and go for something truly touching.
Doug (Seann William Scott) is a bar bouncer with little future. He is a nice guy, but he certainly suffers from some learning disabilities, something his parents (Eugene Levy and Ellen David) refuse to admit he has. His life changes when as an audience-member at a non-professional hockey game Doug head-butts a burly, helmeted player senseless after the man walked into the audience and threatened Doug’s heckler friend (Jay Baruchel, who also wrote and produced the picture). Doug is offered a job on a semi-pro team as an enforcer, a player who’s job is to protect star athletes by starting fights with aggressive members of the opposing team. After a promotion, Doug leaves his home in the US to go a cold little corner of Halifax, Canada and beats the snot out of people for a living.

Goon is laugh-out-loud funny practically all the time. Instead of relying on drunken-party shock humor like another recent Scott film--*cough* American Reunion *cough*--we see poignant yet ridiculous looks at the bloodlust that fuels hockey fans (I do not say this condescendingly: I am a hockey fan and I unabashedly admit that it is a sport based on a primal urge to see grown men brawl like animals). One particularly good scene features Doug sliding an opponent’s face across the plexiglass surrounding the arena and leaving a bloody smear, while a small child and her bookish parents cheer and applaud from the other side.
Now, I suppose, would be as good a time as any to warn viewers that Goon is disgustingly violent throughout. Bones are snapped, teeth are shattered, noses are squashed, and the ice is stained with blood; all of which makes sense if you keep in mind that this isn’t a Miracle-style tale of playing hockey, it is a movie about gladiatorial combat on an ice rink. I was at some times genuinely concerned if it was too much of a glorification of something absurdly dangerous; I have decided no since 1) kids don’t dream about becoming enforcers, they dream about becoming star players, 2) the movie is R-rated and people should know what they are getting into and be mature enough not to emulate the stunts, and 3) the movie’s brutality is so forthright that few people would actually be inspired to follow through with it (though likely some will).

Other humorous moments come from the shenanigans of Doug’s dumb, unsportsmanlike teammates; the cliched and yet still entertaining foul-mouthed coach (Kim Coates); and the slutty, adorable love interest (Alison Pill). Every actor has believeable chemistry with every other actor, something that should be credited to both the amazing cast and Director Michael Dowse (Fubar). The best part of it, though, is the story, which is equal parts heartfelt and hilarious.
Jay Baruchael is best known for his acting ability (he starred in The Sorcerer’s Apprentice and She’s Out of My League after a minor role in Million Dollar Baby) and Evan Goldberg’s early scriptorial career success with Superbad (which came out in 2007, mind you) has been overshadowed by duds like Pineapple Express and The Green Hornet. It turns out they have way more writing potential than it seemed: Working with Dowse and loosely adapting a memoir from a real-life enforcer, the two have far exceeded expectations on the story/screenplay. Both have amazing understanding of what makes good comedy, enormous restraint to ignore easy jokes, and the courage to trust their actors to convey plot elements that aren’t explicitly stated. What is more impressive, though, is they know how to incorporate a heartfelt, surprisingly powerful story into a Hangover-esque screwball comedy.

The future of Doug’s “stardom” is not glossed over. His years as an enforcer are undoubtedly short-lived and the ability to play real hockey is far out of his league. What Doug does have, though, is a noble desire to help his teammates and a deep respect for the sport. In scenes mixed with both irony and sentimentality, Doug and his fellow players--both on his team and the opponents’--share a deep love of hockey and sense of comradery even though their shouting matches and brawls are unprofessional and, to a certain extent, cheating.
This theme is outlined by two very interesting characters. The first, played by international actor Marc-Andre Gondin (a name that I guarantee you will become better known), is Xavier LaFlamme; a former big league star who has bumped back to the minors after an illegal back-check by a rival enforcer nearly killed him and put him in a downward spiral of erratic behavior. While getting to play in the semi-pros is the most successful moment of Doug’s life, it is a humiliating put-down for Xavier. Interestingly, it is Xavier who is jealous of Doug; LaFlamme is disgusted by Glatt’s stupidity and doubts the sincerity of his adherence to the sport. As an enforcer, Doug’s job primary job is to protect Xavier from injuries like he suffered in the majors; tragically the highlight of his career--and probably his life--will be if he manages to keep LaFlamme safe and confident enough to score goals and become a star again.

The other noteworthy character--and one of the year’s best--is Ross “The Boss” Rhea. The veteran enforcer (played perfectly by Liev Schreiber) who caused Xavier’s career-ruining injury, Ross has left the majors and is about to retire, but plans to go out with a bang. Doug plays on another team from Ross, but spends nights analyzing Ross’s best performances in order to emulate them (and, yes, all of his “best performances” were fights). Ross is a barbarian who has ended countless careers--his first scene, in a crowded press conference, is a laughably phony apology for an illegal move that broke a player’s back--but he isn’t all that bad a person. The movie is building up to the inevitable battle between Ross and Doug, but from the get-go Ross sees the puppy-dog sweet Doug and is instantly concerned that his opponent doesn’t get that an enforcer’s career is brutal and short. In the movie’s best moment, Ross tells Doug that it is likely that when they finally play each other Ross will hurt Doug so badly that he will sustain permanent injuries, and is touched when he realizes that Doug does understand this, but is so passionate about the team that gave him glory that he is willing to literally risk his life in order to take them to the championships.
Simultaneously heartwarming, hilarious, and horrifically violent, Goon is one of the best comedies of recent years.