Slap Shot

One of the knocks that has always been given to Paul Newman was that he was not right for comedy. When you're talking about stuff like A New Kind of Love or Rally Round the Flag Boys that's probably true. But Slapshot shows that what Paul Newman needed to be good for comedy was something not quite so sophisticated.

Slapshot ain't Oscar Wilde, but it's not quite to the level of the Police Academy movies. It's just right for Paul Newman as the veteran player/coach with a team of misfits from one of hockey's minor leagues who's forever looking for a break from the majors.

The Charlestown Chiefs who seem to be the hockey equivalent of the New York Mets are having a perennial losing season. The town itself is one flush away from despondency with a mill that was the main employer in the town shutting down. That means the paltry attendance the Chiefs already have will diminish more. It's an uncertain future.

So with nothing to lose, Newman's boys turn the sport into a hockey facsimile of the World Wrestling Federation. In no other sport are fights among the players so accepted. But Newman ratchets it up to an exponential level.

And his team actually starts to win and the Charlestown Chiefs become a gate attraction.

There's a lot more to the resolution of the team's problems, but that championship game is unforgettable.

All Hail the Brothers Hanson.

To be completely honest, "Slap Shot" would've charmed me simply for being a hockey movie. We could do with more of those, without Emilio Estevez. But it earns its place among the better (best?) sports movies not for having underdog skill, a committed dream or thirst for winning, but for dabbling in the gutters of blue humor and distilling the sport down to its most low-brow of beer-guzzling violent fun. The closest thing I can think of to compare this to is "Major League", which is a compliment unto itself.

Even if you don't like the sport, the movie is absolutely worth your time for an unusually profane (and always likable) Paul Newman and for the psychotic Hanson brothers.

Thoroughly entertaining.

8/10

This one belongs on the list of the greatest sports comedies ever made. The humor (and the language) is some of the saltiest you'll hear in a movie but it doesn't seem excessive at all. This tale of a minor-league hockey team having one last go at greatness is boisterous and bruisingly funny, even if you don't care for the sport itself. As the aging captain of the team who's constantly amazed at the crazy happenings around him , Newman is at his roguish, charming best. Rent it with "The Longest Yard" for a perfect double-bill. A four-star **** classic.

I have played goal for 32 years.. On many of the men's rec teams I STILL hear someone say: "How about it tonight, guys? Old time hockey?" and everyone yells : "Pi** on old time hockey!!!" then "Eddie Shore???": "Pi** on Eddie Shore!!!" It still gets a laugh in the locker room!

The goalie being allergic to the fans is a quote from my favorite pro goaltender: the late Jacques Palante.. He was allergic, he said, to the Toronto Fans.. and would often sit the bench.

You can tell the actors are having fun making this movie.. it comes thru loud and clear!

Another locker room favorite that has survived is when you ask another player getting dressed what he is doing.. He might just answer: "Puttin' on the foil, want some???"

I've even been told on occasion that my wife is a lesbian as a joke! She ain't but I often react with mock anger and dash out of the net.

After a bad game where my defense let me down I told our coach in the locker room : " Trade me right fu***** now!!" (and the player to my right said "Now hang up")

A movie that survives this long after release is is is .... A CLASSIC!!

The Charlestown Chiefs is a hopeless losing hockey team in fifth place. The team has to do ridiculous events to make extra cash. Reggie Dunlop (Paul Newman) is a player/coach with a rag tag team with the latest being the goonish Hanson brothers. Their best player Ned Braden (Michael Ontkean) has a jealous wife (Lindsay Crouse) who hates the small town. With the town's mill closing, the team has to close at the end of the season. Reggie Dunlop decides to pump up the team and attendance by planting a story of the team moving to Florida and starts playing goon hockey.

This is an inappropriate movie and it's all the more funnier because of it. It is possibly the funniest hockey movie of all times. Director George Roy Hill rejoins Paul Newman after the success of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and The Sting. It is more fun and more hilarious than either one. However you have to prepare for the language, the homophobia, and the goon hockey. It's certainly not a pretty movie.