Who payed the critics

Perfect cast and a good story

Am I Missing Something?

Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

Slap Shot (1977): Dir: George Roy Hill / Cast: Paul Newman, Strother Martin, Michael Ontkean, Jennifer Warren, Lindsay Crouse: Hilarious hockey comedy about taking chances. Paul Newman plays Reggie Dunlop, an older coach and hockey player whose team, the Charlestown Chiefs are at a losing streak. Dunlop is manipulative and uses various tactics to ensure a win, including making remarks about a goalie's lesbian wife. Eventually he hires the three Hanson brothers as a trio of goons who delight in brawling on the ice. This sparks interests from fans as well as a winning streak. George Roy Hill hit big with Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and The Sting and here again directing Newman at his best. As Dunlop Newman struggles in balancing the future of his team with his wife. Strother Martin plays the team manager who is about to cut the team loose until Dunlop brings on his newest brand of manipulation. Michael Ontkean plays Ned Braden who desires to be a real hockey player and avoid the antics his coach pushes him to do. Jennifer Warren plays Dunlop's wife who is tired of her husband's antics and inability to balance time with her. Lindsay Crouse plays the depressed wife of Braden. She has resorted to drinking and steering clear of Dunlop's advances. While the humour is questionable in terms of the merits, the film succeeds in showcasing a harmless sport becoming a media frenzy brawl. Score: 9 / 10

This profane comedy sport classic, is really a slap in the face, if you happen to be in the warring path of the Charleston Chiefs, a loser ice hockey team. Newman again owns the movie as Reggie Dunlop, the coach of the team, a true supporters who'd back any of his players, if in a rut. Only out there on the cold rink, there's more pucks hitting the skin of faces of the opposing team, instead of disks. Newman loves to provoke the opposing players with personal insults, one of them, involving doing one of the player's wives. The chiefs will use any violent or under the belt tactic to win. One of them, Brandon (Michael Ontkeon) Newman's right hand man, isn't comfortable with this play either, describing one of their shots as "A bulls..t win". Yes, it's dirty out there on the playing field, more blood, than victory. Slapshot is a lot of fun, but also the film, has a really good script working for it. The opening scene with a nervous Iranian player, being interviewed, yes one of the chiefs, will crack you up, for starters. The real stealers of the film come later, a twin brother trio, who you don't want to judge by the electric car set they bring, giving an angry Newman some great lines. Basically this team is being sold down the river. They're on the way out, hey but the bad news bears quit. No. Same moral applies here. I loved the scene with Newman confronting a woman sponsor, who has a change of heart, telling him, the games too violent. You should see how Newman responds, which makes for one of the great savoring moments of the film. Newman even has a player on his team, named killer, (Jerry Houser) a lot of fun. Incidentally Houser played Marsha Brady's husband in The Brady's Comeback Reunion, only here, he's another player, you don't want to rub up the wrong way. We also have two young twin groupies with big, you know, an older randy player, another of the chiefs eating them up with his eyes, behind stinking beer breath. Another player that's a plus here, was Ontkeon's wife, who's pi...d off at hubby, cause he's sticking his, you know what, in every woman. You should see her in a rage, especially when she's behind the wheel. Her and her bigger shaggy dog, end up crashing at Newman's. One thing certain, I could see a mile off, was that Ontkeon was eventually gonna slug mate, Newman, who ends up smiling, glad he took the initiative. Another Mitchell confession: Slapshot is my favorite sport movie. Why they brought a sequel out over thirty years later I'll never know, even though I've never seen it. It even marks the return of that same deadly trio. Believe it. This film was just so enjoyable for some reason. Newman, as well as being such a fine actor, has one of the most killer handsome smiles, I've ever seen, a smile that launched such an acting great, who like many other greats, are no longer with us. Highly recommended for any sport movie fan. Almost a must see.

Despite getting up in years, foul-mouthed ice hockey coach Paul Newman (as Reggie "Reg" Dunlop) still plays with his young team. Unfortunately, the "Charlestown Chiefs" are big losers. Then, they start to play rough. Violent antics end their losing streak and Mr. Newman's brawling icemen are suddenly bruising for the championship. They're also filling the stands with blood-thirsty fans...With outrageous comedy, writer Nancy Dowd and director George Roy Hill capture the sport well; there is a lot of truth here, satirical and otherwise. Newman receives his main support (more or less) from closet exhibitionist Michael Ontkean (as Ned Braden) and their possibly gay manager Strother Martin (as Joe McGrath). As a boozing neglected wife, Lindsay Crouse (as Lily) is a stand out. Especially noteworthy are the hilarious "Hansons" (Jeff Carlson, Steve Carlson & David Hanson).******** Slap Shot (2/25/77) George Roy Hill ~ Paul Newman, Michael Ontkean, Strother Martin, Lindsay Crouse

A minor league hockey team tries to salvage its losing season while dealing with the possibility of being sold. It is not clear what this film is meant to be. It's advertised as a comedy, but there's hardly anything funny here. There are endless scenes of home and road games that do little to propel the narrative. Newman is the player-coach, although he's too old to be playing and is not shown doing any coaching. The characters are undeveloped and uninteresting. This is inexplicably regarded as one of the best sports films. Director Hill is reunited with Newman, but the magic of "Butch Cassidy" and "The Sting" is missing here; perhaps if Robert Redford played Newman's teammate...