People are voting emotionally.

An action-packed slog

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

A down-and-out bouncer discovers he has a talent for dolling out beatings in the hockey rink in Goon (2011), a surprising independent Canadian sports comedy film written by Jay Baruchel and Evan Goldberg and directed by Michael Dowse. Aside from being well made, Goon features a solid, nuanced performance by Seann William Scott.Despite dismal box office returns, Goon is almost universally praised by critics. It currently has a rating of 82 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. I overlooked it many times, because although Seann William Scott has had funny side roles in some of my favorite comedies, I just couldn't imagine him as a leading man. I was so wrong. In Goon, Scott proves he is a competent actor capable of breaking out of the fratbro trope.Doug Glatt (Seann William Scott), a tough but polite simpleton, is working a dead end job as a bouncer. His friend, Pat (Jay Baruchel), hosts a public access hockey call-in show. One night at an Orangetown Assassins minor league game, Doug gets into a fight with a player and the Assassins coach invites him to join the team as their "enforcer." When his skills on the ice improve, he's recruited to play for the Halifax Highlanders and protect their star player, Xavier LaFlamme (Marc-André Grondin), who is slow to recover from a brutal knockdown.Along the way, he falls in love with Eva (Alison Pill), an adorkable hockey fan who sleeps around with hockey players, but is in a relationship, and discovers he might one day have to confront Ross "the Boss" Rhea (Liev Schreiber), who was responsible for knocking out Xavier LaFlamme. Will he get the girl and defeat his rival? Seann William Scott is an American actor predominantly known for playing Steve Stifler in the American Pie films, as well as a host of other moronic, comic-relief roles. His portrayal of Doug in Goon reveals a nuanced side and shows he is maturing as an actor. I was impressed by this performance, and like Matthew McConaughey, who began his career as a stoner "bro", as Scott gets older he may successfully transition to more dramatic roles.Alison Pill is a Canadian actress who played Kim Pine in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010) and Maggie Jordan in the TV series The Newsroom (2012-2014), though she has been acting since childhood. Alison's character, Eva, is a subverted version of Adrian from Rocky. As Doug's love interest, Eva is not well-developed, which is a shame because even though their relationship is given plenty of screen time, she tends to fade into the background. We never learn much about her other than her passion for hockey and unfaithful promiscuity.Goon doesn't disguise its similarities with Rocky (1976), another film about a dimwitted but polite muscle who rises to prominence in a violent sport. Goon raises the violence in hockey to a level in which you almost forget the point of the game is to score goals. It focuses almost entirely on Doug's bouts with the other players, and the exaggerated level of brutality would be gratuitous if it wasn't so well-crafted.Goon shares similarities with other films as well. A scene in which Doug Glatt meets Ross Rhea in a diner is reminiscent of the famous restaurant scene in Heat (1995). These callbacks to famous films is probably why Goon is so good, since the filmmakers decided to replicate proved success. Unfortunately, either the subject matter doesn't really appeal to American audiences or the film wasn't properly advertised, and it was not commercially successful. A sequel, Goon: Last of the Enforcers, came out this year to mediocre reception.

This movie is about a bouncer who is considered the dumb one in his brainy family gets to be a goon in a team filled with under performing misfits and take them to a semi pro hockey glory by just beating up people who stands in his way.At the start of the movie I realized that this story is based on true events so I was excited I was sure this was going to be good one but no it did not. Why can't sports be fair like football, cricket etc., why there has to be violence or goons involved in the team. Is this ice hockey seriously all this violence why can't they join UFC or WBO and show their talents there. The acting of everyone was bad except for Lier Schreiber. The romance shown in this movie was extremely bad such bad chemistry. After seeing this movie I have no interests in watching ice hockey ever again. The ending of this movie was also predictable and nothing great.NO I would not recommend people to watch this movie.My Rating 0/10

The great thing about Goon is that, when you get right down to it, it's not a sports movie. It's not even really about hockey in the sticks and skates sense of the word. Any fan of hockey can tell you, to great length, about the bizarre and unique position of the Goon, a player with minimal hockey skills, who is utilized solely to defend the more talented players, keep defenders from the opposing team honest, and beat the snot out of someone, should the need arise. It's a niche talent, yet an important one in terms of motivation, spirit, and tone of a hockey team. That's what this movie is about. It's about utilizing the gifts you were given, carving out a place in the world for you and your talents, and the basic human need to belong to something greater, a team, a romantic relationship, a family. The movie goes out of its way to tell you that protagonist Doug "The Thug" Glatt is NOT a hockey player. All Doug wants is to wear a uniform and use his talents to help the people he cares about, and I think we can all relate to that. On a more technical note, the performances of the film are exceptional, particularly those of Seann William Scott, who gives the best performance of his career, for my money, as the simple, kind-hearted Glatt, and Liev Schreiber as another veteran Goon, Ross "The Boss" Rhea, looking to go out swinging. It also features hilarious performances from Jay Baruchel as the wisecracking best friend, and Kim Coates, Kim Coates-ing it up as the coach of Halifax. But what surprised me was how well the movie functions as both a comedy and a surprisingly sweet love story. Long story short, don't let the title of this movie throw you off. Goon is an excellent film.

I'd really give this a 6.5 but no half stars allowed. If you're hoping for Seann William Scott to be Steve Stiffler playing hockey then you might be disappointed. Scott's character is an unintelligent, dull but a well meaning and loyal guy. While a lot of this movie is a comedy Scott plays the character straight. There is no "wink" to the audience at all. There is a sweetness to him that makes you pull for him. Liev Schreiber is the "bad guy" who is never really that, in fact you can kind if like him too if he wasn't punching people all the time. Almost wish he had more screen time. It's not quite Slap Shot but still worth a look.