2011 sports comedy film
Goon is a 2011 sports comedy film directed by Michael Dowse and written by Jay Baruchel and Evan Goldberg, based on the autobiography Goon: The True Story of an Unlikely Journey into Minor League Hockey by Adam Frattasio and Douglas Smith. Starring Seann William Scott, Liev Schreiber, Jay Baruchel, Alison Pill, Marc-André Grondin, Kim Coates, and Eugene Levy, the film follows Doug "The Thug" Glatt (Scott), an exceedingly nice but slightly dimwitted bouncer who unexpectedly finds personal and professional fulfillment after becoming the enforcer for the Halifax Highlanders, a minor league ice hockey team, as he prepares to face off against Ross "The Boss" Rhea (Schreiber), the legendary enforcer for the St. John's Shamrocks.
Goon premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 10, 2011, and was theatrically released in Canada on February 24, 2012. Despite largely positive reviews from critics, the film was a box office failure, grossing $7 million against its $12 million production budget. It received six nominations at the 1st Canadian Screen Awards, including Best Director for Dowse and Best Cinematography for Bobby Shore.
The film became a sleeper hit following its premiere on Netflix, leading to an increase in DVD sales and VOD downloads. This unexpected success ultimately resulted in a sequel, Goon: Last of the Enforcers, which was released in 2017. Goon has developed cult following in the years since its release, and Scott and Baruchel have expressed interest in the possibility of a third film.
Plot summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.