History Film / Goon2011

''Goon'' is a 2012 [[CanadaEh Canadian]] comedy film about the life of a minor league [[UsefulNotes/IceHockey ice hockey]] enforcer written by Creator/JayBaruchel and starring Creator/SeannWilliamScott. The film is billed as a SpiritualSuccessor to the 70s classic ''Film/SlapShot'' with more blood and gore.

It was followed up by a sequel, ''Film/GoonLastOfTheEnforcers''

''Goon'' is a 2012 [[CanadaEh Canadian]] comedy film about the life of a minor league [[UsefulNotes/IceHockey ice hockey]] enforcer written by Creator/JayBaruchel and starring Creator/SeannWilliamScott. The film is billed as a SpiritualSuccessor to the 70s classic ''Film/SlapShot'' with the blood and gore UpToEleven.

* {{Mangst}}: Ross Rhea. After a teammate takes a vicious elbow to the face, Rhea smacks the offender in the head with his stick and is suspended and sent down to the minors. He winds up at St. Johns where he grew up and got his start playing hockey. When on TV, he is glad to be back home, but throughout the movie is shown sitting alone night after night in an all-hours dirty spoon by himself with no friends, no fans, constantly keeping tabs on Doug who has been labeled by the sports media as the "next great enforcer." TurnedUpToEleven when his team faces Doug's, when his normal level of thuggery on the ice turns brutal as he doesn't want to be remembered as going out as a "Middle aged, Nancy-Boy fuck." Ross' aggression gets exaggerated in the final two matches to make us root for Doug, otherwise his natural charm would split the audience.

* BloodFromTheMouth: And there is a [[{{Squick}} LOT]] of it.

* ICanStillFight: In the climatic final fight, Doug [[spoiler: gets his ass royally kicked by Rhea, long past the point when the refs ''want'' to stop the fight, but neither Doug nor Rhea are willing to concede. In the end, Doug is almost blinded, breaks his ankle, and is bleeding so much that one has to wonder just [[HowMuchMoreCanHeTake how much more he can take]]. But with HeroicWillpower, Doug manages to turn the tables on Rhea and knock him the fuck out, along with one of his teeth.]]

* NiceJewishBoy: Doug is a semi-subversion. He isn't very bright, but he is a genuinely good person and means well. He's also adopted, as is his brother.

* NotSoDifferent: "So, you're the new me, eh?"

[[quoteright:275:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rossrhea_7970.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:275:[[ImpliedDeathThreat Don't you fuckin' dare.]]]]

''Goon'' is a 2012 [[CanadaEh Canadian]] comedy film about the life of a minor league [[UsefulNotes/IceHockey ice hockey]] enforcer written by Creator/JayBaruchel and starring Seann William Scott. The film is billed as a SpiritualSuccessor to the 70s classic ''Film/SlapShot'' with the blood and gore UpToEleven.

Doug Glatt (based on the real life player Doug Smith) is a slightly dimwitted, but generally kind bar bouncer from western Massachusetts who packs one hell of a punch. While attending a hockey game, he gets into a fight with a player and impresses the coach of a local beer-league team, who offers him a position. Doug gets the role of an "enforcer," an untalented player who is primarily responsible for protecting his teammates and brawling with their opponents.

Doug's impressive fighting skills get him invited to a minor league team and charged with protecting its star player Xavier [=LaFlamme=], a former [=NHLer=] who got busted down to the minors after a confrontation with legendary enforcer Ross Rhea left him shell-shocked. Over the course of the movie, Doug must navigate a complicated relationship with a hockey groupie, Eva, reconcile his new career with his bookish family, and prepare for an inevitable collision with Rhea himself.

** Doug’s first practice with the Assassins culminates in him mopping the floor with a dozen guys who all try to take him on at once.

* GlassCannon: Ross can really dish out a beating, [[spoiler:but goes down after taking considerably less punishment than Doug during their fight. However, the last shot of Ross may imply that he threw the fight, since he likes Doug and was retiring after that game anyway.]]

* BabiesEverAFter: [[spoiler: Doug and Eva get married between the two movies and near the end of it have their first child.]]

* GameBreakingInjury: The impetus of the sequel. Right after being promoted to Captain, Doug gets absolutely annihilated by a newcomer, Anders Cain, and suffers a bad concussion alongside wrecking his right shoulder and is forced into immediate retirement. The movie is spent by him trying to adjust and get back. Ultimately [[spoiler: he throws one last right hook to lay out Cain once and for all, knowing very well it would end his own career.]]

** A similar thing happens in the sequel. [[spoiler: Doug defeats Cain once and for all, and the Highlanders are able to score the game-winning goal not long after. Also justified in that the game was already tied, and Cain was not only a lunatic making life hard on offense but also the Wolfdogs' main scorer. Him being taken off made life MUCH easier for the Highlanders' attack.]]

* HesBack: Two instances in the sequel. Doug himself returning to the team after a long absence and immediately making a positive impact without even needing to start a fight. Then [[spoiler: Ross Rhea coming out of his own retirement to help the Highlanders while Doug is out on suspension.]]

* PlayingAgainstType: When you see Creator/EugeneLevy cast as Doug's dad, you expect at least a couple of comedic scenes. Instead he's mainly there to deliver a somber DisappointedInYou speech that arguably serves as the film's most depressing moment.

* AffablyEvil: Ross Rhea. He's very good at what he does and is not above goading other players into fighting him when he's not ramming them into the boards. But he always keeps a sense of humor about it.

* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Most of the Highlanders are [[BunnyEarsLawyer at least a bit quirky]], but Belchior (the goaltender) is downright nuts-- he's got a prescription drug addiction and a HairTriggerTemper, talks to the goalposts as though they're his imaginary friends, and his goalie mask features a picture of his mother on it.

* GoldenSnitch: A rare intangible example, as in the final game [[spoiler: Doug defeating Rhea in their climactic fight invigorates Xavier, who [[MiracleRally scores three straight goals]] and seemingly propels his team into the playoffs virtually single-handed.]] Justified in that [[spoiler: Rhea had brutally beaten Xavier in their last meeting years before, and Xavier had been playing poorly ever since, unable to get past it. Seeing Doug beat the crap out of Rhea showed Xavier that he was protected and Rhea wasn't that tough, and brought him out of his funk.]]
* GoodIsNotNice: Doug himself isn't a completely nice person. Polite, but ''not'' nice.

--> '''Opposing Enforcer:''' Hey Glatt, you little fuckin' dick weed. You try any of that shit you did against Hamilton on me, I'll light your fuckin' ass up!

** Even though Rhea loves to brawl he will sometimes pass on the opportunity. When challenged by the Halifax team captain to fight, Rhea gives him a chance to change his mind since he knows the old player is not known for fisticuffs. [[spoiler: The Halifax player pushes for the fight, and [[CurbStompBattle it does not end well for him.]] ]]
* RagtagBunchOfMisfits: The Halifax Highlanders were a floundering team featuring a drunk captain, a disaffected ex-superstar, and a pill-popping goalie to name a few. Then Doug came along and, [[PlayedForLaughs while most of their personality quirks remained]], they started winning games.

* TruthInTelevision: Georges Laraque's character politely asks Doug for a fight, similar to [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=kCQRT14azI4#t=45s what he did here]] as a member of the Phoenix Coyotes. The most important part of the unwritten "code" governing fighting in hockey is that both combatants must be willing: hockey fights are rarely about anger or hurting someone, and attacking someone on the ice without consent will get you ejected from the game ''at least'', and possibly brought up on assault charges off the ice.

* FrenchJerk: Xavier, and everyone in Quebec. Xavier eventually turns out to be a JerkWithAHeartOfGold.

* GlassCannon: Ross can really dish out a beating, [[spoiler:but goes down after taking considerably less punishment than Doug during their fight. However, the last shot of Ross may imply that he threw the fight, since he was retiring after that game anyway.]]

* BerserkButton: Don't call someone gay in front of Doug.

Doug Glatt (based on the real life player Doug Smith) is a slightly dimwitted, but generally kind bar bouncer who packs one hell of a punch. While attending a hockey game, he gets into a fight with a player and impresses the coach of a local beer-league team, who offers him a position. Doug gets the role of an "enforcer," an untalented player who is primarily responsible for protecting his teammates and brawling with their opponents.

''Goon'' is a 2012 [[CanadaEh Canadian]] comedy film about the life of a minor league [[UsefulNotes/IceHockey ice hockey]] enforcer written by Creator/JayBaruchel and starring Sean William Scott. The film is billed as a SpiritualSuccessor to the 70s classic ''Film/SlapShot'' with the blood and gore UpToEleven.

Doug Glatt (based on the real life player Doug Smith) is a slightly dimwitted, but generally kind bar bouncer who packs one hell of a punch. When while attending a hockey game, he gets into a fight with a player and impresses the coach of a local beer-league team. Doug plays the role of an "enforcer," an untalented player who is primarily responsible for protecting his teammates and brawling with their opponents.

Doug's impressive fighting skills get him invited to a minor league team and charged with protecting its star player Xavier [=LaFlamme=], a former [=NHLer=] who got busted down to the minors after a confrontation with legendary enforcer Ross Rhea left him shell-shocked. Over the course of the movie, Doug must navigate a complicated relationship with a hockey groupie, Eva, reconcile his new career with his bookish family, and contend with an inevitable collision with Rhea himself.