Goon

Doug Glatt of Orange, Massachusetts is floundering in life, having no real sense of where he fits. 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 like steel, Doug is good at the enforcement part of his job as a bouncer despite his innocent, naturally-friendly approach to dealing with people and situations. An incident involving Doug in the stands of an Orangetown Assassins minor-league hockey game leads to the coach, Rollie Hortense, offering Doug a tryout with the team as its enforcer, although Rollie has no idea if Doug even knows how to play ice hockey (he doesn't). Learning just enough hockey skills, Doug makes the team, but Rollie believes that he'd be a bigger asset on his brother Ronnie Hortense's team, the Halifax Highlanders. Ronnie has one player, Xavier LaFlamme, who was once well on his way to a successful NHL career, until he was blown a vicious hit three years ago by aged enforcer Ross "the Boss" Rhea, after which Xavier lost his hockey mojo. Doug's role would be to protect Xavier while somehow giving him the confidence to feel safe playing hockey freely again. Doug relishes this new role, first with the Assassins then with the Highlanders, as he likes hockey and he stands up for what and who he believes in. But Doug might have obstacles in proving himself to those that matter: the coaches, his family, his fellow players--especially Xavier--and a girl named Eva, who's already in a relationship, but Doug is falling for her. He must also prove himself to Ross the Boss, whom Xavier has not met on the ice since that hit. —Huggo