Starring: Seann William Scott, Liev Schreiber, and Jay Baruchel
“This is not f**king baseball.” This statement was hurled out by an angry coach in Goon, and truer words were never spoken. Goon tells the story of Doug Glatt (Seann William Scott), a bouncer at a local bar in Massachusetts. Doug has the honor of being the not so bright black sheep in a family of doctors. While his brother is a surgeon, Doug is skilled in fighting and “bouncing,” much to the chagrin of his mortified parents. At a local hockey game, which looks more like a WWE Royal Rumble match, Doug ends up getting into a fight with one of the players who jumps in the stands to beat up Doug’s obnoxious friend Ryan (Jay Baruchel). Doug literally beats the living daylights out of the player, and a star is born.
A local hockey coach puts Doug to work as a bruiser. Doug’s new job is not to actually play hockey. His sole purpose is to fight and take down any unnecessarily rough players on opposing teams. He is darn good at his job and soon gets picked up by a serious league team, the Halifax Highlanders. The Highlanders are in a slump after their star player Laflamme (Marc-Andre Grondin) loses his nerve after being decimated by legendary enforcer Ross “the Boss” Rhea (Liev Schreiber). Doug is brought in to protect Laflamme. In the process, Doug’s earnest, blind dedication to his team ignites a fire and the Highlanders are suddenly on the path to victory. But, with the team’s success, Doug is on a collision course to face the legendary Rhea. The film follows his journey from unknown bouncer to hockey hero.
Goon really delivers in both comedy and heart. Seann William Scott drives this film with his pitch perfect depiction of a simple, genuine guy who just wants more out of life. His character wants to be a part of something, to be valued, and to contribute. Scott skillfully portrays Doug as an exceedingly polite, if at times dimwitted, lovable guy. At the same time, Doug brutally destroys grown men with his fists, reducing them to bloody heaps on the ice. He is like Adam Sandler in The Waterboy, but with an edge. Frankly, I have not enjoyed Scott this much since The Rundown. When you add in Schreiber as the tough as nails, badass Rhea and Eugene Levy as Doug’s uptight father, you just can’t lose.
Goon is not without its flaws. The film is unnecessarily crass. That is to be expected from a Superbad writer. I’m not a prude, but I prefer that bawdiness come with more humor and isn’t just crude for the sake of crude. In addition, Baruchel is supposed to be funny, but is more annoying than anything. With that being said, Goon has plenty of laugh out loud moments—from the hockey announcers’ comments to Doug’s parents, I chuckled more than a few times. This was a surprise treat for me. Kick back with a hard lemonade to enjoy the nicest guy to ever fight.
