Check out streaming holiday favorites and binge-worthy classics in our Holiday Streaming guide.
Related lists from IMDb users
Title: Goon (2011)
Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below.
| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Seann William Scott | ... | ||
| Jay Baruchel | ... | ||
| Alison Pill | ... | ||
| Liev Schreiber | ... | ||
| Eugene Levy | ... | ||
| Marc-André Grondin | ... | ||
| Kim Coates | ... | ||
| Nicholas Campbell | ... |
Rollie Hortense
|
|
| Richard Clarkin | ... | ||
| Jonathan Cherry | ... | ||
| Ricky Mabe | ... |
John Stevenson
|
|
| George Tchortov | ... | ||
| Karl Graboshas | ... | ||
 |
Larry Woo | ... |
Park Kim
|
|
|
Stephen Sim | ... |
Backup Goalie
|
Doug Glatt of Orangetown, Massachusetts is floundering in life, he having no real sense of where he fits - having a "thing" as he calls it. He doesn't have the book smarts to become a doctor like his adoptive father or his gay adoptive brother Ira. And he doesn't have the passion that his best friend Pat has for his self-appointed work, hosting a hockey based cable call-in show, Hot Ice. Because his fists and skull are figuratively like steel, Doug is good at the enforcement part of his job as a bouncer despite he having a naturally friendly childlike approach to dealing with people and situations. An incident involving Doug in the stands of an Orangetown Assassins minor league hockey game leads to its coach, Rollie Hortense, offering Doug a tryout with the team as its enforcer, the tryout regardless of the fact that Rollie has no idea if Doug even knows how to play ice hockey (which he doesn't). Learning just enough hockey skills, Doug makes the team. Rollie, however, quickly ... Written by Huggo
I hadn't read or heard much about Goon before I went to see it; all I'd seen was the trailer. I didn't even realise that it was based on a true story. I wasn't expecting it to be that good, but was pleasantly surprised.
I was expecting that the funny bits in the trailer were all that would be on offer but the whole film was seeped in that simple (albeit sometimes unnerving) comedy that had the audience laughing out loud often.
Furthermore, beneath the usual humour we've come to expect from Goldberg, there is a much deeper underlying story to it. It was even endearing in parts. OK so 'endearing' isn't the best word to describe a comedy sports film that has as much gore as it has humour, but the way that Seann William Scott portrays Doug really did something of touching my heart, and it was refreshing to see Scott play the role.
Granted it may not clean up at the Oscars, but the story of a guy who really has no idea where he belongs is both hilariously and sweetly told in Goon, with a great relationship conveyed between Doug and his friend - excellently played by Baruchel - who seems to be the only one who believes in him.
Teamed (no pun intended) with the banter generated with the game of hockey and Doug's fellow players, this really makes for a must-see for any sports film fan, or comedy film fan, or indie film fan. There's a love story in there too for the romance fans. Which could potentially give Goon a pretty huge audience. If people ignore the trailer, that is.
Yes the whole story is slightly clichéd, but this film does so much more than the trailer gives it credit for, and deserves the word to be spread that this really is worth a watch.