Ryan McNeil
Everybody loves a train wreck. Perhaps it sparks our curiosity, our voyeurism, or a strange animal desire to witness carnage. Sometimes, being a hockey fan treads in the same water. Sure there are dazzling goals and spectacular saves that kids will emulate for years to come…like Sidney Croby’s golden goal for Canada over USA in the 2010 Winter Olympics. However, there’s a want for violence that comes with being a hockey fan. There’s a desire for bone crushing hits, and when tensions run high for two players to trade punches on the ice. If one counts themselves a hockey fan (as I do), one has to wonder – do we want to see them play, or o we want to see them bleed?
The lead goon in GOON is Doug “The Thug” Glatt (Sean William Scott). When we meet him he works security at a dive bar in small town Massachusetts, and is feeling a little bit aimless in life. His best friend is Pat (Jay Baruchel) who hosts a cable access TV show called Hot Ice dedicated to his love of hockey; specifically the fighting and violence that are a part of the game. One evening when Doug and Pat are at a minor league game, Pat taunts a player in the penalty box, irritating him so much that he climbs into the stands to get at him. Doug Glatt wastes no time in standing up for his friend, and knocks the player out with one punch.
Impressed by Glatt’s truculence, the head coach of the hockey team offers him a tryout – looking to add a bit of grit to his passive team. It doesn’t seem to matter that Glatt can’t skate, he gains a spot and works as hard as he can to improve. He improves so much in fact, that he gets called up to a higher level team in Halifax to be their goon. The Halifax Highlanders haven’t won a game all year, and they want someone to protect their flashy forward Xavier Laflamme (Marc-Andre Grondin). Laflamme got concussed three years prior thanks to a vicious hit by Ross “The Boss” Rhea (Liev Schreiber). Since then he’s been gun-shy on the ice, and a right jackass off the ice.
Glatt’s presence seems to cause a stir. At the rink he conducts himself with a dedication not usually seen in minor-league hockey. He’s proud to be where he is…proud to be doing what he’s doing. His teammates have weird quirks of their own – veterans on their last legs, rookies that are big-time keeners, even european players who enjoy picking on their own goalie – none of it seems to phase Platt one lick. Outside the rink, he falls hard for a local woman named Eva (Alison Pill), who seems to have a thing for hockey players. Pity she has a boyfriend and is, by her own admission, bad news.
There’s a few real life factors that make GOON work; not the least of which is the changing role of the enforcer in professional hockey. As time has marched on, violence within the sport has come under heavier and heavier scrutiny. Concussions have ended careers, and drastically affected quality of life for former players. Fighting in hockey is now only permissible at the pro level, forcing one to wonder about the role of a the team goon. As it all of that isn’t enough, there’s also the specter of what these men do when their career’s are over – an increasingly sad story that has repeatedly ended in depression and addiction. So what are we to make of The Goon?
In the film’s best scene, Rhea puts a fine point on it. He says that everybody admires the soldiers when they’re off doing the fighting; when they come home though, it’s a different story. Men like x and x face the life of the sad clown, who the public adore when the spotlight is turned on, but will be quick to forget. How is one supposed to deal with that? Well of you’re wired like x, you survive it by taking pride in being a part of something bigger than yourself. You stand up to be part of something that draws people together and has a history.
What Glatt understands most is that he’s doing his part – he’s protecting Laflamme, and giving him a chance to regain his flash. Thirty years ago, the greatest hockey player the sport has ever known put the puck in the net seemingly at will. His slight build was seldom hit, even though a good hit would take him out for much of a game. How? Simple: The team had a goon that would seek retribution it any opposing player stepped out of line. Glatt gets this, and takes pride in protecting Laflamme and allowing his team a chance to win.
I’m of the opinion that great sports movies are few and far between. If the film is a comedy it goes too goofy; if the film takes things serious it gets too syrupy. Very few find the sweet spot of being a solid movie first, instead they hope to draw on fans of whatever sport is central to the plot and not worrying about the rest of the potential moviegoers. The thing about GOON, is that I don’t believe you have to be a hockey fan to enjoy the film. It certainly doesn’t hurt, as there are lots of little winks within it to the culture surrounding the sport. But even if you don’t know the difference between the blue line and the red line, the structure of a solid film will still carry you through a brisk 92 minutes.
In hockey, maybe we do want our players to bleed. What’s more screwed up than that is that there are young men lining up in rinks big and small around North America to do the bleeding. Perhaps the takeaway from GOON is for as long as fighting remains a part of hockey, that the enforcers who do the bleeding are not doing it for our sadistic amusement. Instead they are doing it to contribute what they can to something bigger than themselves. They crash, so smaller players can bring some flash, and play the game at its highest level.
I like that you used the word “truculence.” Spoken like a professional hockey GM. You sound just like Brian Burke. 😉
Nice review, though. The film itself couldn’t be more timely; however, I think it will offend some viewers because of its exaggerated violence. I love hockey. It’s a beautiful game when played well and the role of the enforcer, now more than ever, is popping up in conversations. There are those who believe they can jump-start a slumping team simply by getting involved in a fight while there are those who think it ruins hockey’s reputation. I’m pretty torn on the subject myself, but I absolutely LOVED the scene in the diner when Rhea and Glatt talk about the role of the enforcer. I just wish the film had delved a little deeper other than that one scene.
Yeah, I think that word will be etched into my brain for a long time, regardless of whether the local squad can actually employ it.
I was wondering why the film was rated 18A when I looked at my ticket…and then I understood why with the first shot. Whether that will put viewers off, I can’t say.
The role of the enforcer seems to be dwindling, and when considering the role of post-concussion syndrome, that might not be such a bad thing. I do believe that a solid hit can wake up a slumping team, or galvanize it if it’s in retribution.
But you’re right – more than anything else, it’s the high amount of offensive skill that I believe best exemplifies the game.
It’s dwindling because of all the concussion- and depression-related deaths over the summer. If those hadn’t happened I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t even be popping up in conversations. A lot of teams have started to shy away from the enforcer because they don’t want to be seen as one of those who still openly support it. The “goon” is definitely already a dying breed. It will be interesting to see what hockey will be like in a couple of years.
So yes… I’m not a fan of hockey. My first contact with the game is with the film THE MIGHTY DUCKS (go ahead)… and since then I’ve only seen it in whichever films manage to decide it’s about hockey.
Yes sports films do depend slightly on your love for said sport a bit. I love sports movies though. Their ability to make the underdog story trite and bearable at the same time is kind of amazing. Here however GOON reminds me of the #1 thing that I don’t quite get about hockey: the violence.
I’m no stranger to violence in sports. Watching Roy Keane tackle Patrick Viera, Cantona fly kick the Crystal Palace fan, the number of broken legs that I’ve seen from bad tackles in football… however that’s all (or at least mostly) incidental violence. Never have I seen a sport (like hockey) decide it’s okay for us all to take a break from the game we’re currently watching and see these two men decide to have a fist fight which has absolutely nothing to do with the ability of the sport. Yes “Hard Men” who seek retribution for prior offenses on their team are in all sports (Vinnie Jones, Roy Keane, etc) exist, but they dole out said retribution as part of the game, not a separate moment of it.
Part of me (since I don’t actually watch hockey) doesn’t want to believe that the sport is this violent, that it actually has skill, other than the ability to take a punch, involved that can be appreciated and wants to know when and where that movie is? The most revered hockey film is SLAP SHOT and isn’t that like GOON all about a rag tag team of guys in the ice taking as much punishment as they can dish out? I haven’t seen it, but as a concept for a sport seems ridiculously sad.
Now, as for the comedy it seems hindered by the violence as I’m supposed to find Rhea and Doug smiling at these hits funny? Nope…. So I’m not biting on this one.
THE MIGHTY DUCKS relationship with hockey is blasphemous – so try to put that out of your memory.
The violence in hockey…
I could write a whole other post on violence in hockey, its history, and where it’s headed. The short version is that hockey is not only a contact sport, but one where the contact is continual (unlike football where it gets penalized or even American football where it only ends the play).
The sport is that violent at times, and just to make things more insane remind yourself that they are doing it all on ice.
For the timer being, most teams do keep a roster spot for a player that is best at throwing a hit or throwing his fists, and in the past there would have been a few roster spots.
The humour though goes beyond Rhea and Doug smiling at their hits, it plays on Doug’s manners (note how often he apologizes), Pat’s crassness, and the entire team dynamic from the Russians’ taunting of the keeper, to the young upstart’s wholesomeness.
Ye I get it.. the violence contrasted to Doug’s attitude towards it… he’s sorry but he’s punching the dude… THAATTTSS HILAAARRRRIIIOOOOUUUSSSS [note emphasis please].
But you didn’t really get to the violence that bugs me about the sport. I have no issues in sports with a wild elbow, a slam into the glass, or a hockey puck to the face… that’s all “incidental”.
I’m talking about the sideshow that is the boxing match that takes place in everyone of these games. If this is a ficticious aspect of the sport made up by movies please tell me. If it isn’t please explain why this is allowed? They penalize them for 15 minutes (yes crucial to a match) and that’s it???
Call me old fashioned, but that’s not a sport. I’d rather go in knowing I was seeing that by going to a boxing match (which I enjoy) rather than a hockey game.
And of the films I’ve watched pretty much none of them show any technique, it’s all just hit the other guy mentality.
The fight in the middle of the game still happens. Not every single game, but indeed quite often.
The logic is that it’s a way teams can keep each other in line. If a player gets too reckless throwing bad hits, or running a smaller player, he knows he’s going to have to throw down with the opponent’s thug. In a crazy way, it’s sort of how you want players to get into it with one another since running each other with risky bodychecking or using one’s stick as a weapon is far more dangerous than wailing on each other.
So it’s still a part of the sport (for now), and it’s primarily for policing purposes. Once in a while two thugs will go just for the hell of it (like Rhea and Doug do), but it’s usually more spur of the moment.
PS – The automatic penalty is five minutes each. If one player is deemed to have started it unnecessarily, he gets an extra two minutes for instigating. If the referees are in a bad mood, or one of the fighters has been breaking the rules all night, players can also face a ten minute misconduct penalty or be tossed from the game.
Something else to keep in mind is that fights don’t happen every game. They really, really don’t. There are a few thugs here and there but, for the most part, if there is the odd fight it happened for a reason and is quickly broken up.