Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

Members of the ‘Apatowverse’ begin casting for a new hockey movie ‘Goon’

Earlier this summer, we discussed Kevin Smith’s potential new hockey movie “Hit Somebody.” Say what you will about the often-vulgar creator of Jay and Silent Bob, it was intriguing to hear that an occasionally deft hand was being put to work on a hockey movie.

Not to be outdone, it sounds like a few celebrity planets orbiting the “Apatowverse” are putting together a puck-based cinematic experience too. Sports and pop culture blog Get to Our Game reports that Jay Baruchel (the nerdy guy in many Apatow projects, including the underrated TV show “Undeclared”) and Evan Goldberg (writer for popular Apatow movie “Pineapple Express”) put together a screenplay based on the story of minor league enforcer Doug Smith. The movie will probably follow the book’s title “Goon.”

The blog discusses the film’s casting call and points out the beyond-eerie resemblance between actor Sean William Scott (aka Stifler from the “American Pie” series and oddly enough, the lead of Smith’s “Hit Somebody”) and former New York Ranger Jay Caufield.

But the key to this whole enterprise -- and the factor that could make “Goon” resonate with actual hockey fans -- may be the director. Michael Dowse, an Ontario native and rabid Habs fan, should bring a commitment to authenticity that you won’t find in other hockey movies.

The major open question is who will play the role of aging enforcer Ross “The Boss” Reardon, Doug’s antagonist and the most fearsome fighter in the league. Who could pull this off? Do we give Keanu Reeves another shot, or would that lead to too much unintentional comedy? What about an actor’s actor who plays hockey, like Tim Robbins?

One of the toughest calls in sports movies is casting based on “Acting ability vs. athletic ability.” You don’t want to cast someone who cannot even ice skate, but you also want audiences to be riveted by the off-ice scenes too. Finding actors who can act and skate like the wind must be pretty difficult.

(As you may remember, the great hockey movie “Miracle” casted acting newbies who could play some serious hockey in most of the roles and let Kurt Russell knock the Herb Brooks role out of the park. That allowed the hockey scenes to become some of the best ever committed to film ... and it also allows me to think, “Hey look, Jim Craig is on a cop show now!” every time I flip past CSI: NY.)

Anyway, a movie being “in production” doesn’t guarantee it will see the light of day (or at least reasonably wide release), but “Goon” sounds like it could be one of the best hockey movies in ages if it works out properly. News might be sporadic on this flick, but I’ll fill you in when (or if) I hear more.

(H/T to Puck Daddy)