Movie Stats:
Released 2011 (Canada)
Canadian & American, in English
Director - Michael Dowse
Stars - Seann William Scott, Jay Baruchel, Liev Schreiber
Plot Summary:
A not-so-bright bouncer, Doug (Scott), finds his calling as a hockey enforcer, aka “goon.” Baruchel co-stars as Doug’s BFF Pat and Schreiber as Ross Rhea, an elder statesman “goon” on the verge of retirement.
Warnings:
Lots of blue language, including what felt like a billion f-bombs (IMDB lists the actual number as 263 lol); extreme violence; sexy times; brief female nudity (breasts only); and IMDB tells me some drug use but I don’t really remember it.
Bad Stuff:
I gather that it’s supposed to be funny but I didn’t find it funny at all.
Anyone who knows me in real life can tell you that I’m certainly no prude when it comes to blue language but it really felt over the top here. It actually got kind of annoying.
I really hated the way that every time they mentioned Doug’s brother Ira (David Paetkau), they had to say that he was gay. Every. Single. Time. It was so weird, like they wanted to make up for all the homophobic “jokes” by having a gay character but since you only see him kiss a man once (chastely, I might add), they had to keep talking about how gay he was. It made the movie feel like one of those bigots who insists they can’t be a bigot because they have a “black friend.”
Good Stuff:
I liked the central message that once you find something you’re good at, and which you also enjoy, you should pursue it in spite of objections you might receive from the people you love and/or society.
I really enjoyed the character of Doug. It was refreshing to have a lead who was dumb but likable, and not in the goofy “Dumb and Dumber” way but in a genuinely “not bright” way. I loved that Doug was unfailingly kind, loyal, and genuine.
I liked Scott in this role. I know he often plays dumb, but he also usually plays wild/crazy/wacky on top of dumb and I felt that his performance here was really understated.
The Verdict:
Side note: Do you know how difficult it is to convince your computer that you really are trying to say, “Liev” not “Live”?
This movie has been in my queue for a long time. My husband watched it once while I was away and liked it enough that when my visiting brother chose it to watch on the final night of his stay, hubby sat down and watched it again with us. I have to admit that I don’t really see the appeal. I like “gross out” comedies, toilet humor, and “boy” movies as much as the next person, but this one just didn’t do it for me. The strange thing is that it has this heart-warming quality at its core. I ended up liking Doug, and rooting for him to succeed, which prevented the movie from being completely awful. However, it simply wasn’t funny, and that sunk it.
I give the movie 2.5 stars.
2 comments:
Hey, it's the guy from Undeclared!
I think Seann Williams Scott just bugs me. Even the way he spells his name bugs me. So I will not be watching this, unless I have a Liev marathon.
In spell checker news, the radio announcer told me today that the word of the year is "vape" and then added the aside that his spell checker wanted him to change it to "cape."
I have a soft spot for Jay Baruchel, even though he basically plays the same character in every role. I think it's because, compared to everyone else, he was so understated in "Tropic Thunder," the first movie he was in where he caught my attention.
Oh, and IMDB tells me that Seann William Scott was born Sean William Scott. I suspect he added the extra "n" to his name because someone else in the guild already had that name.
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