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Goon
- Review Date: March 28, 2012
- R
- Genre: Comedy
- 2012
Common Sense Media says
Bloody sports dramedy about brutal life of hockey enforcer.
Parents say
Kids say
QUALITY
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that Goon is a fact-based sports dramedy about a hockey player whose primary job is to be the team's designated thug on the ice; consequently, it features plenty of violent and bloody confrontations on the ice. It glorifies fighting and suggests that participating in a good beat down can be an entertaining activity. Perhaps not surprisingly, considering that the script was written by veterans of Superbad and Knocked Up, there's also near-nonstop swearing ("f--k," "s--t," and much more), lots of drinking, some drug use, and a few sex scenes that are pretty brief but do include partial nudity.
What's the story?
Doug Glatt (Seann William Scott) is just a bouncer at a bar, until the night he gets into a fight in the stands at a hockey game, attracting the attention of the team's coach -- who thinks Doug's willingness to think with his fists might make him a good GOON. That's the unofficial job title of the guy who protects his teammates by picking fights with anyone on the other team who's playing a bit too rough -- usually the other side's goon. Soon Doug is causing a stir in the Canadian minor leagues, deemed a rising star simply because he's ready and eager to knock some heads. And when his team hits a winning streak, it looks like they're headed for the playoffs ... where Doug will come fist-to-fist with the league's most celebrated goon (Liev Schreiber), a match-up that every fan is eager to see.
Is it any good?
Doug isn't a particularly bright guy -- as even he admits in several scenes -- but he's smart enough to realize that being a goon might be a decent career for a man with few other skills. Goon the movie, however is even less intelligent. The characters are thinly drawn, and many of them aren't particularly likable. Doug is sweet -- really the only nice person in the film -- but it's hard to watch him get brutalized over and over. And the fight scenes are quite gory, with bloody puddles on the ice and close-ups of teeth sliding across the rink.
Goon is supposedly based on a true story (it was inspired by the nonfiction book Goon: The True Story of an Unlikely Journey into Minor League Hockey by Dough Smith and Adam Frattasio), which may be why the script by Superbad co-writer Evan Goldberg and Judd Apatow regular Jay Baruchel includes a scene in which Doug's parents walk out of a restaurant, ashamed of their son's job; it feels like it was just thrown in for no particular reason. The same goes for Doug's budding relationship with Eva (Alison Pill), who likes him, then spurns him, then likes him, again with no explanation. In the end, Goon is a mix of standardized sports-movie cliches, hardcore fistfights (certain to appeal to some viewers), some raunchy humor, and scenes that don't fit together.
Explore, discuss, enjoy
Families can talk about Goon's message. Do you think the film glorifies fighting? Is Doug intended to be a role model?
How do the fights in Goon compare to violent encounters in other movies? What do you think would happen if someone was really beaten as badly as the characters here? Are the fights realistic?
Goon is based on a nonfiction book; how accurate do you think the story is? Why might filmmakers change some of the facts in a movie based on a true story?
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- Teens & kids
Teen, 14 years old
April 27, 2012
AGE
Smart and Witty
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Teen, 16 years old
April 7, 2012
AGE
ijj
American Pie star is in the bloody Hockey Dramedy with good backup cast with some tireing jokes
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Teen, 14 years old
April 2, 2012
AGE
Fine sports film
Somewhat funny, for drama. Good/entertaining. Strong sexual content and violence. Mature teens and up
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Teen, 16 years old
June 30, 2012
AGE
Goon Movie Review
Dissapointing movie is still mildly enjoyable
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Teen, 17 years old
August 17, 2012
AGE
No younger than 16
This movie is a great comedy and made me laugh alot. Very crude and contains alot of bad langeage and is pretty sexual and violence which is the main subject of the film. I would say 16+ is an okay age to watch with an older brother or what not. I just assume that by 16 you know about sex and so on.
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Parent of 9 and 11 year old
September 4, 2012
AGE
Goon is Great
I really enjoyed this, way more than I thought. I'm not sure if I love the message of "do what you do best" even if it's getting punched in the face, but Sean Scott brings great tenderness and likability to his character; Kind of a butt kicking Forrest Gump. Lot s of gross splattering blood and brutal hand to hand fights, as well as several cocaine references and some sexualized nudity and tons of profanity and suggestive dialogue. Through that all though, the film manages to have heart and you really feel for the character and his makeshift family
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Teen, 16 years old
October 17, 2012
AGE
Strong violence, langauge, sex, and booze. Only for older teens and adults.
I totally loved Goon! This is still one of my favortie movies. It delivers lots of laughs, and also a pretty entertaining story. The one problem with it though is the adult content. There's almost 300 uses of f**k, plus every single other swear word you could think of. The violence comes next, with pretty violent fights every hockey game. Most of the fights contain exaggerated amounts of blood, with people spitting out blood and teeth very often. Blood is also seen smearing on glass, and spewing from cuts and bloody mouths. Now the sex isn't the most frequent thing in the movie, but there are a couple scenes containing nudity. There is also a quite graphic scene where a man is seen thrusting into a woman from behind. There is many other scenes with strong sexual references. There is also many scenes with people drinking and getting very drunk. A man is seen snorting cocaine. A man is smoking a joint. And some other drug references. Overall, Violence: 8/10, langauge: 10/10, sex: 8/10, drugs and alcohol, 7/10.
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Teen, 14 years old
September 14, 2012
AGE
Good movie, but...
This movie was really good, I thought, and there really wasn't a good reason for me to hate it. I had to give it four stars though because it was focused for awhile at least on the blood and violence part and not the main storyline, therefore you see Doug hurting people for no good reason, and I didn't really like how violent Doug had become.
Other than that, good storyline, good actors, and good for not too many laughs (why is this a comedy?)
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| Topics: | sports and martial arts |
| Studio: | Magnet Releasing |
| Director: | Michael Dowse |
| Cast: | Alison Pill, Jay Baruchel, Seann William Scott |
| Genre: | Comedy |
| Run time: | 91 minutes |
| Theatrical release date: | March 30, 2012 |
| DVD release date: | May 29, 2012 |
| MPAA rating: | R |
| MPAA explanation: | brutal violence, non-stop language, some strong sexual content and drug use |
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