Slap Shot (1977)

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

The movie is made so realistic it has a lot of that WoW feeling at the right moments and never tooo over the top. the suspense is done so well and the emotion is felt. Very well put together with the music and all.

It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

Like "Bull Durham," the sport takes second fiddle to a bunch of intrigue. It's about aging players, greedy owners, manipulation, on and on. Paul Newman decides he has to take action to make sure his team manages to draw. In the small city where they play, there is a mill. The people who work at the mill are the fans. The mill is going to close, which will render the place a ghost town. This moves into an anything-for-a-laugh hockey movie with some totally unforgettable characters. When the Carlson brothers show up and goon hockey starts, we are amazed at the way the whole game becomes nearly surreal. Don't take this seriously.

Fierce and unapologetic, helmed by a tough mother like George Roy Hill and scripted by a woman (yeah!), this is a hockey movie for those who love hockey and also those who have no idea what hockey is much about aside from the fights- and believe me there are lots and lots and lots of fights here. When it ended my wife (who has become a hockey fanatic over the past few years) commented on how it's a movie where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts: it's not a terribly quotable film, but you leave having gone through a full experience.Slap shot is grimy and sometimes very sleazy, and with the exception of Harry S Truman from Twin speaks, the Chiefs follow coach/player Paul Newmans lead: we got to get people seeing this team again and win some (bleep) games, so he goes for a sort of nihilistic approach: screw it! Get in fights! Rile up the refs! Get the audience involved! Then maybe the team won't be folded and shut down by the owner but rather sold to some Floridian.There even is an arc for Newmans character somewhere in the midst of what is a precursor to Animal House, a raucously anarchic studio comedy, only they're out of college and working class dudes who don't mind getting some teeth knocked out or getting a lip sewn up post (or dying) game-play. It's extremely slight though and if anything the players overall desire to get the hell out of their current state (i.e. they try to play 'old fashioned' hockey without uh violence and then when they hear from blustery p'd-off old Strother Martin there are NHL scouts in the stands, that's all that registers from the managers motivational speech so BACK TO THE CREAMING THOSE BASTARDS!) makes it that much funnier.There are stretches here where the laughs aren't plenty - it's much a 70s movie that way - but much of this is so hysterically spot on because it is all about behavior. Sure, the players on their bus (plus some local girls following on another bus) mooning some angry rival team onlookers is one thing, and that can be funny. But Hill is smart as a director to let so much of it be about the personalities of these players - those three brother goons who play with their electric train set and seem more like one entity with three heads and pairs of glasses are a prime example - and also how Newman does a lot with just a look or a reaction, how he interacts with his friends girlfriend as she drives at top speeds in her van, how he is both 'don't give a f***' but giving a f*** at the same time for what counts.Did I mention how wonderful Newman is here? Kind of? I must say again that he is the heart and soul of this movie, a true star who continues (maybe at this point caps off) a career of anti establishment I-do-things-my-way forces of nature like the Hustler and Cool Hand Luke. He can be brash and crude as this guy, but damn is he charming and clever and a character only a complete stiff upper lipped being couldn't get behind.Slap Shot is a great comedy for the reason that we as the audience see all the truth that is there, in this case the dirty, foul mother and scabrous lives of (semi) professional hockey players, and that they are not in on the joke of themselves. And if my wife was somewhat correct that on a first viewing its not the most quotable thing ever, there's a constant energy to nearly every scene where the comedy is big and bold and brutal and unapologetic. I love that kind of comedy, and in a blue collar 70s milieu that is deep down, at the end of it all, political too (working class vs the rich, a town closing a plant so jobs gone, how will they go to hockey games, etc).

Slap Shot (1977): Dir: George Roy Hill / Cast: Paul Newman, Strother Martin, Michael Ontkean, Jennifer Warren, Lindsay Crouse: Hilarious hockey comedy about taking chances. Paul Newman plays Reggie Dunlop, an older coach and hockey player whose team, the Charlestown Chiefs are at a losing streak. Dunlop is manipulative and uses various tactics to ensure a win, including making remarks about a goalie's lesbian wife. Eventually he hires the three Hanson brothers as a trio of goons who delight in brawling on the ice. This sparks interests from fans as well as a winning streak. George Roy Hill hit big with Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and The Sting and here again directing Newman at his best. As Dunlop Newman struggles in balancing the future of his team with his wife. Strother Martin plays the team manager who is about to cut the team loose until Dunlop brings on his newest brand of manipulation. Michael Ontkean plays Ned Braden who desires to be a real hockey player and avoid the antics his coach pushes him to do. Jennifer Warren plays Dunlop's wife who is tired of her husband's antics and inability to balance time with her. Lindsay Crouse plays the depressed wife of Braden. She has resorted to drinking and steering clear of Dunlop's advances. While the humour is questionable in terms of the merits, the film succeeds in showcasing a harmless sport becoming a media frenzy brawl. Score: 9 / 10

Too often Slapshot is mentioned at the top of such lists as: best sports comedy, best sports movie, best hockey movie etc. - sometimes even best comedy. I recently saw it again after many years and it has not aged well. The main problem is with the script and dialogue and that is a very serious problem. I appreciate the main plot and themes of a minor league hockey team struggling to survive, but the actions and events are very contrived, especially the climactic striptease scene. The other "comic" actions and the "comedic" dialogue don't just fall flat, but they are outright embarrassing. Even Paul Newman manages to induce cringes. The only redeeming parts of the movie, and the reason for my score of "3" is the appearance of the three "Hanson" brothers. Played by actual pro hockey players, the scenes where they are prominent are a joy to watch. Not only is it obvious that they are very good players and skaters, but their comic scenes are the only genuinely funny scenes in the movie. The only reason to watch Slapshot is to observe the "Hanson" brothers in action. They don't appear until nearly halfway through and they only have about a half dozen short scenes - so keep your thumb near fast forward.