Poll Position: Slap Shot (1977)

The hockey playoffs are going on right now, so with that as inspiration we asked you to vote on a selection of hockey movies. After the votes came in, Slap Shot turned out to be the big scorer. I haven't seen many Paul Newman movies, but I was quite the fan of Cool Hand Luke. I also noticed that this is primarily a comedy of the 70's, so I expected to encounter some random nudity. Other than that, however, I didn't know anything about the movie. Actually, now that I think about it, a friend, ages ago, told me this movie was hilarious and I had to see it. Well I finally have my chance. Hit the jump to see if I too thought it was all laughs.


I was more than a little surprised that the story was more than just people goofing off on an ice rink. They actually have a reason to be goofing around on the ice, and that is that the team is being shut down. In a desperate attempt to prove they're still worth something and can be sold, coach Reggie Dunlop decides to get more aggressive and outright violent in order to win games. And surprise, surprise, it actually starts to work. At the same time, he's trying to impress his wife so she'll come back to him, and a few of the other team members also have some relationship issues as well. This adds a welcome layer of drama, which sometimes seems lacking from films of the era, over top of all the insanity and hockey matches.

Paul Newman plays Reggie Dunlop, the coach and member of the team

While the extra drama was welcome, it unfortunately didn't pay off in the slightest. The romantic relationships really take a huge back seat to everything else in the film, and they are dealt with so little, or left so unresolved, I'm not even sure why they were in the movie. Perhaps it was just to add another layer of depression on this failing, losing team and to show that they aren't just losing due to back luck, but also because they're not very good people.

One character in particular, Ned Braden, refuses to fight once the team starts getting violent. He acts as if he's so much better than Reggie, and yet he treats his young, attractive, sweet wife terribly, and cheats on her with other women. Some role model he is.

But let's get down to business here. The comedy. So many times I found myself staring at the screen unbelieving in what passed as good comedy in the 70's. Times sure have changed. Sexist and homophobic jokes reign supreme here. Oh yeah, and their bus driver wears an SS Nazi outfit once, for no reason that I can tell. He's just in the background, dressed as a Nazi. Was he supposed to look cool or badass? I haven't the slightest idea.

The Hanson brothers to the rescue! Never thought I'd say that.

Where the comedy does still work though is on the ice. This is primarily violent slapstick, and in the field of slapstick, not much has changed over the years. It's also lead mainly by three brother characters called the Hansons. They're funny, but then this is also probably an area of awkward jokes too, as they are constantly mocked for being possibly mentally handicapped at the start of the movie. They themselves are possibly the stars of the movie though, stealing every scene they're in for the entire film.

So while the Hanson brothers do their best to save the day, and the movie, overall it wasn't enough. With pointless side plots that go nowhere, annoying characters, aged comedy that simply isn't any good anymore, oh yeah, and a terrible song choices, there's not much to like here. Lets not forget the awful 70's height of fashion that Paul Newman constantly sports. Imagine brown leather trench-coat with large fur collar that goes down the front of the coat, over-top of plaid pants and 70's high heels for men. Oh yes, and in case you were wondering, I wasn't mistaken in expecting nudity, as there's a lengthy scene with a topless lady. Sadly I felt the movie felt old and tripped over itself one too many times for me to still be able to recommend it to anyone else. Sorry folks, I just couldn't get into this one this time.