Goon

            Thanks to the 4th of July's The Amazing Spider-Man release and the push to still get movies out on Fridays, the only option here in Mississippi this weekend was the new Ice Age film.  When I began doing Mainstreamin' I said I wouldn't review children's films, and I've mostly stuck to that.  Because of that I had absolutely no idea what to write about.  None.

            Thankfully, Netflix has saved me again and I've decided to review an overlooked future classic.  I watched this film two weeks ago and was incredibly impressed.

            Now, it's not like I hadn't heard of it before, it's just that I had a hard time believing what everyone else was saying.  I like Sean William Scott, but I'm not exaggeration when I say that some people were trumpeting this as his film.

            I wasn't sure what to think, but now I'm a believer.  All thanks to Goon.

On to the review!

            In Goon, Sean William Scott is Doug Glatt, slow-witted son of Doctor Glatt (Eugene Levy) and brother of Doctor Glatt, who also happens to be gay (plot-point).  While his parents and brother embody the Jewish Stereotype (hell, his father flat-out expects it from his children), Doug is a simple bouncer whose only skill is the ability to beat the ever-loving shit out of people.

            This skill pays off while attending a local hockey game.  Doug's just trying to enjoy the game when his friend ticks off one of the players so much, the guy climbs the glass, looking for a fight.  Unfortunately for him, he hurls a few anti-gay slurs at Doug.  This leads to the entire stadium witnessing the guy's massive beat-down by Doug's hands.

            This stadium fight gets Doug a job offer on the local team, and his showcased fighting skills eventually get him a contract with the Halifax Highlanders, a Minor League hockey team.  The thing is, the part of Doug that matters to the Highlanders are his fists.  His job is to protect talented-but-skittish potential star, Xavier LaFlamme (Marc-Andre Grondin), and demolish any opponent that tries to hurt his teammates.

            Thing is, Doug may be a little dumb, but deep down he's a really sweet guy.  He fights because he wants to protect his teammates.  He often apologizes to the guys he just finished knocking unconscious, and while I can't say that violence is his last resort, he really wants to do good by people.

            I know that I'm making this out to be some sort of underdog drama, but that's only half of it.  Goon is a sports movie done in the classic old-school style.  This is 2011's The Longest Yard (1974 version, of course).  This is the sort of movie you watch if you love Slap Shot, The Bad News Bears, or Major League.

            You've got the angry coach (Kim Coates), the obnoxious best friend (Jay Baruchel), a love interest (Alison Pill, yay!), a slightly crazy play-by-play announcer,  a 'nemesis' in Professional Hockey's greatest enforcer Ross Rhea (Liev Shreiber) and all sorts of crazy teammates.

            While there are lots of hilarious one-liners and situations, Goon does what so few sports movies manage to do, especially the recent remakes (yeah, you, 2005 The Longest Yard­).  It lets the humor come naturally.  Yeah, there are all sorts of crazy people, but they're convincing.  You can see why they're nuts, and you end up thinking of them as real people, not stereotypes shoved into the film to create a couple of laughs.

            Basically, Goon is an amazing movie that could easily have come out in the 70's when sports movies still had huge balls and weren't afraid to cater to adults.  It's a loving homage to all these films that came before.  Even more surprisingly, just like his fictional counterpart, Sean William Scott proves that he can do more than most of us thought him capable of.