Goon (2011) on Netflix
Doug Glatt bounces at a bar, out of place in a family of doctors. A fight in the hockey stands earns him a tryout as an enforcer, though he can barely skate.
- Netflix3.9/5
- IMDb6.8/1094,731 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes81%
Trailer
Plot summary
Doug Glatt bounces at a dive bar in Orangetown, Massachusetts, a polite and dim-witted man who feels out of place beside his father and brother, both wealthy physicians. His best friend Pat hosts Hot Ice, a show recapping hockey highlights. At a minor league game Pat taunts the visiting team, a player climbs into the stands, and Doug steps in and beats him. The coach of the Orangetown Assassins offers Doug a tryout as an enforcer; he takes the job despite being a dreadful skater and trains to improve. Across the league, the veteran enforcer Ross "the Boss" Rhea drops to the minors after a suspension, and Xavier Laflamme, the Halifax Highlanders forward he once concussed, still plays in fear of another hit. The Highlanders want Doug to protect Laflamme, and in Halifax he meets Eva, a hockey fan.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Goon (2011)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Doug Glatt's goal off his butt in the film is drawn from a real game: "Dangerous" Doug Mann of the Columbus Cottonmouths scored in overtime of Game 5 of the Central Hockey League Eastern Conference Finals against the Huntsville Channel Cats when the puck deflected off his butt, sending Columbus to the Finals.
- Posters for the film were removed from bus shelters in Toronto and Montreal before its premiere after complaints from the public about Jay Baruchel making a "sexually suggestive gesture with his tongue and fingers."
- Goon became a sleeper hit after premiering on Netflix, boosting DVD sales and VOD downloads, and that unexpected success led to the 2017 sequel Goon: Last of the Enforcers.
- The timing of Goon's release was called controversial because the previous summer three NHL enforcers, Derek Boogaard, Rick Rypien and Wade Belak, had died, all having suffered depression and head trauma believed to be factors in their deaths.
