Hot Ice

Goon

**1/2 out of ****

Directed by: Michael Dowse

Starring: Seann William Scott, Alison Pill, Jay Baruchel, Marc-André Grondin and Liev Schreiber

Running time: 91 minutes

The most refreshing thing about Goon, a riotous and funny (although not riotously funny) hockey comedy about a young adult recruited by a minor-league team to drop the gloves and fight, is how infrequently the film glorifies that on-ice violence.

Given the recent controversies about fighting in hockey reaching levels of gladiatorial amusement while posing a threat to players, the film thankfully doesn’t encourage the violence as bloodsport. Instead, Goon relishes in the art of war on ice as a defense mechanism to protect a teammate.

The bare-knuckled protagonist that the title refers to, Doug Glatt (Seann William Scott), is not a brute, but warm-hearted and wholesome.

By day, Doug hangs around with his friend, Pat (an annoying Jay Baruchel, who co-wrote the script with Superbad scribe Evan Goldberg). Pat is a sports junkie and profane talk-show host. By night, Doug works as security at a sports bar, pummelling those who cause trouble.

One night at a minor league game, Doug brawls a player who lunges into the crowd to attack Pat. Doug’s victory becomes an overnight viral sensation, intriguing the coach (Kim Coates) of a Halifax minor league team, the Highlanders. The Nova Scotia enterprise is struggling to enter their division’s playoff race. The coach calls Doug and offers him a job as a hockey player.

Doug’s transition to minor league stardom is not a smooth one: he has not put on skates in years and lags exponentially behind his teammates in practices. Meanwhile, he is rooming with a gnarly hockey prospect, Xavier Laflamme (Marc-André Grondin, best known for the Canadian comedy C.R.A.Z.Y.), who arrives at skates hungover and uninspired. Meanwhile, he falls in love with Eva (a charming Alison Pill), an affectionate hockey fan with relationship issues.

The shining point of Goon’s terrific ensemble is a scruffy veteran enforcer with a handlebar mustache named Ross Rhea, and Liev Schreiber plays him with delightful intensity.

Rounding out the supporting cast is a crew of ethnic stereotypes playing Doug’s teammates. They are a rowdy bunch of insolent boys in grown-up bodies that love to use a word that rhymes with “puck.” Most of their comedy schtick hits the boards and falls sourly.

Meanwhile, Scott’s is ruthlessly nice as the hard bodied yet soft at heart protagonist. He has no reason to fight except to be a protector. It’s an affecting performance; when Doug takes one for the team, he really bleeds.

Goon goes through the conventional sports-genre hoops and could have stretched its slender running time to give the supporting players more to do. Director Michael Dowse also should have further utilized the “puck-cam” perspective more (that cool technique happens in one game and then vanishes).

Nevertheless, what’s most miraculous about this soon-to-be cult classic from Canada is how the film does not glorify grandiose, gladiatorial machismo. There is a tender heart underneath the chaos, and it makes this hit-and-miss comedy an easier one to root for.