You know when you’re putzing through Netflix and see more shit than you know what to do with, but then you watch something and it reminds you that you’re getting a bargain by only paying 7.99 – that reminder is Goon.
I should note that Netflix streaming has always been a source of clutter and total randomness for me. One day I go to my home screen and it’s promoting Felicity and the next day it’s showing Mission Impossible as a new release. I think they need a better organization system, especially when their “new release” was released to the world in the 90’s.
The clutter that is Netflix steered me to the film starring Sean William Scott and Jake Baruchel. It reminded me to trust Netflix and their options (unless they change their name to Qwikster) and it also reminded me that Netflix is more than just TV series and random reality shows – for now.
The best way I can describe Goon is … shit … that’s the thing - I can’t describe this movie. Maybe that’s why I like it so much. Is it Rocky meets Miracle? Eh, sort of. The film follows William Scott, the insanely nice and self describe “stupid” bouncer whom hangs with Baruchel (also the writer of the film). Baruchel takes William Scott to a hockey game where one of the players rushes the stands and attempts to kick Baruchel’s ass. William Scott steps in and drops this guy in seconds – unleashing his talent: Kicking ass.
The ass kicking capabilities of William Scott gets him a job on the hockey team. His sole purpose is to fight and protect his players, which he does aka a “Goon.” Many fights later he’s brought up to a semi pro team to serve the same purpose. However, William Scott isn’t the only person in the world who serves this exact purpose. A crafty vet played by Liev Schreiber is currently positioned in the semi-pro league and he’s a legend. He’s also probably the best part about this film (more on that later).
As William Scott unknowingly makes his team better and forms bonds with his teammates we build to the inevitable conclusion of Liev (not using his last name because I like his first name so much) and him meeting in a “who gets into the playoffs” game where the two are destined to face off in one historic fight… And they do.
I’ll avoid the spoilers, but what you need to know about this film is that it somehow is filled with a heartbeat. William Scott carried this film. I would argue that aside from playing “Kar” in Bulletproof Monk this might be his best film. No, but seriously, this is his best film.
Liev kind of killed it as the old man who has seen everything but is still fighting to fight. As I was watching I kind of forgot how much I liked him as an actor. Aside from the performances, it was funny, fast, to the point, and was quite possibly the perfect Netflix movie.
Having said all of that I should probably note that there are some definite flaws in the movie, but I don’t want to dive into them because it’s not exactly a movie that you’d try to tear apart, you just enjoy it. Also, I kind of like trusting Netflix…
See Goon.