By Marc S. Sanders
Slap Shot is to hockey what Caddyshack is to golf. It is rude, crude and unapologetically harsh in its language, its temperament and with the memorable fraternal trio known as the Hanson brothers unforgiving with punches, slugs, checks and body slams. The wardrobe looks dated (some of the ugliest plaids you have ever seen) and it was produced during a time when hockey players could opt not to wear helmets but it is still outrageously funny. Best of all, Paul Newman, the guy from more upscale, sophisticated fare like Cat On A Hot Tin Roof, The Hustler, and Hud, leads the cast. Some of the best actors are also the best comedians. (Look at Robert DeNiro, Donald Sutherland and Clint Eastwood as well.)
The Charlestown Chiefs are the worst hockey team in the Federal League. When the local Pennsylvania mill has announced that it is closing, it does not look good for the team as attendance will drop lower than what it already is. The coach and oldest teammate, Reggie Dunlop (Newman), reaches for a few last-ditch efforts to elevate a demand and an appreciation for the Chiefs.
First, he turns to reporter pal Dickie Dunn (M Emmet Walsh) and drops a made-up rumor that a Florida retirement community is interested in buying and relocating the team down south. Then, it dawns upon him to antagonize opposing players which will lead into a series of goon fights. His three newest recruits, the four eyed Hanson Brothers work best at bloodshed. The enhanced violence lead to wins and suddenly the Chiefs have a new fan base that follows them on the road and sells out their home games. Only one player, Ned Braden (Michael Ontkean) is against this new approach. He’s college educated with a love for the game and refuses to stoop to Reggie’s level. A side story has Ned struggling with his marriage falling apart with his alcoholic wife (Lindsay Crouse).
In the meantime, as the rumor of the buyout stays alive, Reggie does his best to find who exactly owns the team. He wants to convince that party to keep the organization running.
Paul Newman owns this film despite a collection of fantastic characters that embody the team. There’s the French-Canadian goalie who is not sharp at delivering proper English. Killer Carlson (Jerry Houser) quickly develops a knack for being more of goon than a hockey guard. The team’s manager played by Strother Martin (a regular mainstay co-star in a series of Newman films) has to get the team to catwalk model the latest in fashionwear furs, and there’s Francine (Jennifer Warren). She’s Reggie’s ex-wife, who still shares a thing with him but will not recommit while he continues to play hockey.
George Roy Hill (The Sting, Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid) is the unlikeliest of directors for a foul-mouthed film like this and just knowing that seems to make Slap Shot all the more rebellious and appealing for repeat views. It’s as if Newman and Hill decided to lift their veil of innocence and join the ranks of the worst obscene. These guys just said “Aw fuck it. Let’s make the movie.” I smile each time a sharp guy like Paul Newman delivers an F bomb. It’s shocking, but it also works so perfectly. Hockey is anything but delicate fare.
There are dozens of fight scenes in Slap Shot and normally I might claim exhaustion with its repetitiveness. Thanks to Hill’s direction, every check or punch or wallop is caught differently. No one is safe; the fans, the radio announcer, the referees, the organ player, the players. All of them are in the line of fire of a puck or a punch. While it should, none of what you see ever looks the same. So, every contact in this contact sport brings one more laugh after another. Absolutely hilarious!
The Hanson trio (played by real life hockey players – Jeff and Steve Carlson, David Hanson) became a pop culture sensation in cinema with the release of this film. The image of these three goons, who look like nerds playing with racing car toys, is as uniquely identifiable as Arnold Schwarzenegger in his Terminator get up. You can never forget the Hanson Brothers.
Screenwriter Nancy Dowd came up with the idea for Slap Shot after listening to her brother’s experiences of being on a minor league team. Most of the characters she developed were based on actual players that Ned Dowd played with or against.
I always like when a movie can teach me how an industry works. With Slap Shot, as slapstick and raggedy as the material proudly is, there’s a mentality to witness and realize. These guys are literally this brazen, crude and unrepentant, but like Newman’s character Reggie, they’re not stupid or unlikeable either.
The conclusion of the picture is the championship game. It works because it performs against the grain of what the characters did to get to this point in the story. The first period break in the locker room is hilarious with Strother Martin going off the rails while Paul Newman is muttering hilariously in the background. What eventually sends this final game into the stratosphere is unexpected and hilarious.
Slap Shot triumphs because it was never careful in its comedy. It’s obscene, prejudiced by today’s standards and yet I do not believe most audience demographics would be offended because there’s an understanding in what it means to be a goon on a hockey team.
Slap Shot may be a movie of its time from nearly fifty years ago, but it still holds up with big laughs and hilarious set ups. If I need to be more formal in my praise, it’s one hysterical fucking movie with a great fucking script.
Now cue the National Anthem because I’M LISTENING TO THE FUCKING SONG!!!!!
2 UNPAID MOVIE CRITICS!!!! 