Goon

Starring: Seann William Scott, Jay Baruchel, Alison Pill, Liev Schreiber, Eugene Levy, Marc-Andre Grondin
Directed by: Michael Dowse
Rating: R
Genre: Comedy
2012

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A bouncer (Seann William Scott) gets the chance of a lifetime when he's asked to join a professional hockey team as a tough, no-holds-barred enforcer.

Review:

Tim: I had heard good things about Goon, so I was looking forward to the movie. I like Seann William Scott, I think Jay Baruchel does have some potential, and it's been a while since we've had a really good sports comedy. All the elements were in place here for a funny, entertaining hockey movie. Unfortunately, something goes very wrong in the cooking. I honestly cannot comprehend why so many critics liked this movie. I thought it was a vulgar, idiotic, mess of a movie. The film was not entertaining or much fun to watch at all. It was a complete disappointment.

Seann William Scott is an actor I like and support, but I thought he gave a very lukewarm performance. The big problem is that his character is just so stupid on screen. I understand the depiction that he is not an intelligent guy, and has only his skills at violence to fall back on. However, his character is a muttering, incoherent idiot who utters some of the stupidest dialogue I've ever heard. Every time he opened his mouth, I shuddered. I am not suggesting he should have been quoting Shakespeare, but as our protagonist, I was hoping he would have something of consequence to say. Now, I mentioned that I think Jay Baruchel has some potential, but after this film, I am rethinking that assessment. He is one of the writers of the screenplay, and I thought he did an awful job. His character is so outlandish and cartoonish that nearly every second of his screen time worked to ruin the movie for me. His whole purpose is to provide comedy by uttering the most vulgar, crass language imaginable. I'm certainly not a prude, and I love vulgar language if it serves a point. Unfortunately, here, it does not. His character was pointless, annoying, and greatly hurt the film.

The supporting cast is a bit better. I actually thought Alison Pill managed to give a strong performance in the midst of such mediocrity. I also very much enjoyed Liev Schreiber as Ross Rhea. Schreiber is such an underrated actor, and I used to strongly blame Hollywood for this. However, as of late, I'm starting to suspect more of the blame rests with his occasionally awful film choices. He's very, very good here, but the movie is rather abysmal. I did like him quite a bit here. It was also fun to see Eugene Levy, but it was disappointing that he was given absolutely nothing to do.

There are a few moments when I thought I could like Goon. I love that the movie was about violence verses intelligence, about a man who believes he has so little to offer that his only ability to contribute comes through his fists. Many athletes would likely be able to relate to this- when you are paid and praised for violence and bringing destruction to others, how does that impact your psyche? It's quite interesting, and those moments of the film exploring this were among the best. This is actually a fairly realistic look at professional hockey below the NHL level. People really do live this lifestyle, and it was fascinating to watch this on screen. I also thought the movie did a good job of establishing the Schreiber-Scott rivalry, so when they finally do face off, there's quite a bit of excitement about the bout.

Unfortunately, the movie as a whole just is not very good. It was not particularly funny, and there wasn't really a character you could identify with. Scott is completely wasted in the lead role. I know that critics liked this movie more than you would expect, but I honestly don't see the same things they saw in the film. While Goon does a few things right, the movie's flaws were all too visible, and ruined the experience for me. I didn't care for this movie very much at all.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating- 5


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