Last night was ‘Date Night’, so we headed to the cinema to see the sports comedy Goon, starring Seann William Scott as a nice but dim muscle man called Doug, invited to act as a ‘goon’ for an ice hockey team in Nova Scotia. What’s a goon? I didn’t know either. It’s basically a member of a hockey team recruited to protect team mates from being attacked by opponents, by beating them up first. Well, you learn something new every day …
Seann William Scott will forever be Stifler from American Pie to me – a character I still find ludicrously funny, awakening as he does my predilection for humour aimed at pimply teenage boys. Hence why I was open to a film which may not initially seem up my street, given its focus not just on sport, but specifically a sport I have no understanding of at all. I can’t say I was especially blown away by the result – the film was much bloodier than I’d expected and I am not sure it would have ever been given the go-ahead without the likes of Dodgeball lighting the way. However, it’s pretty self-aware and does showcase its star’s unexpected comedic range (and that he’s really beefed up since his American Pie days). Whilst I found most of the humour a bit too violent, there were some moments when I have to confess to giggling: the juxtaposition between soaring classical music and over the top shots of hockey players losing teeth remain very bloodily clear in the memory and speak to the bathos involved in local sports. I also found the burgeoning romance between Alison Pill’s town slut and Doug surprisingly charming – in fact, I’d say that Pill was the best thing in the film and after enjoying her performance in Scott Pilgrim, can’t wait to catch her in other movies. Liev Schreiber also makes a surprise cameo as Doug’s nemesis, a fact I’m still struggling to understand: Schreiber is a respected actor who has no public persona to redeem or career to resurrect – factors usually associated with such turns. Ah, well. Far be it for me to judge! He’s very good and sports a handlebar moustache which anyone participating in Movember later this year would be proud of.
I guess my main problem with the movie was the fact it seemed to ridicule anyone who might be considered to have some kind of learning disability, and that frankly, unless it’s Ben Stiller’s aforementioned vehicle, I tend to turn off when it comes to movies about sport. The unexpected charm which comes from the romantic subplot saved Goon for me, but if my other half is anything to go by, this is one which the guys out there will enjoy regardless.
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