Doug Glatt, a slacker who discovers he has a talent for brawling, is approached by a minor league hockey coach and invited to join the team as the "muscle." Despite the fact that Glatt can't skate, his best friend, Pat, convinces him to give it a shot, and Glatt becomes a hero to the team and their fans, until the league's reigning goon becomes threatened by Glatt's success and decides to even the score.
Seann William Scott
Doug Glatt
Marc-André Grondin
Xavier Laflamme
Alison Pill
Eva
Jay Baruchel
Pat
Liev Schreiber
Ross Rhea
Eugene Levy
Dr. Glatt
Kim Coates
Ronnie Hortense
Nicholas Campbell
Rollie Hortense
Richard Clarkin
Gord Ogilvey
Jonathan Cherry
Marco Belchoir
Ricky Mabe
John Stevenson
George Tchortov
Evgeni
Karl Graboshas
Oleg
David Paetkau
Ira
Larry Woo
Park Kim
Stephen Sim
Backup Goalie
Ellen David
Mrs. Glatt
Mike Bell
Donovan
Jeff Strome
Oldfield
Jeff Wahl
Reg
Bryan Clark
Bartender
David Duncan
Darren
James Durham
Customer
Jeff Bromley
Guy
Don Carmody
Guy in Leather Jacket
Kalyn Bomback
Kelly
Dominick Blais
O'Sullivan
Curt Keilback
Rod McCaudry
James Knight
Ref / ND Halifax Player #1
Tom Anniko
Shamrock's Coach
Amy Groening
Teenage Singer
Ali Hassan
Uncle Stevie
Sean Skene
Assassin #1 / Concord Player #2
Gabriel Daniels
Blanko
Ken St. Mars
Hamilton Defenseman
Derek Poplawski
Lowell Kings Opponent
Tim Kiriluk
Mirimachi Opponent #1
Lance Cartwright
Mirimachi Opponent #2
Georges Laraque
Huntington
Geoff Banjavich
Brandon
David Lawrence
Richard
Brandy Jaques
Stripper
Howard Jerome
Albee Cohen
Aron Tager
Mr. Goldsmith
Sidney Leeder
Young Woman
Sarah Scheffer
Barbara Cohen
Darren Ross
Lineman #1
Andrew Degryse
Lineman #2
Mark Dann
Iroquius #4
Brent Poplawski
Concord Player #4
Robert Borges
Iroquius #5
Jodi Stecyk
Assassin #2
Veronica Malinowski
Paris Hilton Lookalike
Christian Fraser
Assassin #3
Glen Thompson
Assassin #7
Braeley Hobbs
Rachel (uncredited)
Mitchell Kummen
Autograph Seeker (uncredited)
Christian Lalonde
Simard (uncredited)
Adam McCort
Drunkard (uncredited)
Lorrie Papadopoulos
Restaurant Patron / Team Supporter (uncredited)
Terry Ray
Assassin Player (uncredited)
Clayton T. Stewart
Crazy Fan (uncredited)
Jacob Klick
Agin (uncredited)
John Paul Tremblay
Production Assistant #3 (uncredited)
Robb Wells
Production Assistant #1 (uncredited)
Director
Michael Dowse
Screenplay
Jay Baruchel
Screenplay
Evan Goldberg
May 26, 2020
4
Click here for a video version of this review: https://youtu.be/c6TxAXR2-fE
Doug Smith was an ice hockey enforcer who played over 60 games for seven teams over the course of his career. In June 2002 he wrote a book entitled _Goon: The True Story of an Unlikely Journey into Minor League Hockey_. That book was the basis for the 2012 movie _Goon_ starring Seann William Scott. I've not read the book, but have known about the movie for quite a while, but never got around to watching it.
Here's the official description to give you an idea about what the movie focuses on:
_Doug Glatt, a slacker who discovers he has a talent for brawling is approached by a minor league hockey coach and invited to join the team as the "muscle." Despite the fact that Glatt can't skate, his best friend, Pat, convinces him to give it a shot, and Glatt becomes a hero to the team and their fans, until the league's reigning goon becomes threatened by Glatt's success and decides to even the score._
While this is marketed as a comedy, its really not that funny. That's not say that its a drama though, because its not that serious. It never really fully commits to being either, so the end result for me just felt like a series of mildly interesting things happening.
What doesn't help this is the editing which moves everything along way too fast. It's almost like this was once a longer movie that was cut down to fit a 90min run time. Some scenes feel cut short and incomplete, and I felt like at times they're going "okay you get what's going on here, so we don't need to finish the scene, so let's move on to the next one!"
Add to that Jay Baruchel being extremely annoying any time he was on screen, and a side character having more of a story arc, and I felt myself regularly tuning out of this and checking how much time was left. This movie seems to have a bit of a cult following, but I really couldn't get pulled into it. There is a sequel out there, but I won't be busting any doors down to watch it.
Side note: If you're a hockey fan, make sure you watch the credits for some footage of the real Doug in action cracking heads on the ice.