Slap Shot (1977)

Slap Shot is a 1977 Paul Newman hockey film that every professional hockey player adores. The film is about a failing minor league hockey team located in a dying mill town. The owner wants to sell the team and Newman, portraying player/coach Reggie Dunlop, utilizes increased violence and false relocation rumors (to, of all places, St. Petersburg, Florida) to focus the team and try to save his waning career.

The film, written by Nancy Dowd, is pretty high on the vulgar scale. Barely a few minutes passes by without the heaviest of curse words spoken or the Lord's name decried, so watch it at your own risk.

But the allure to this film and what has made it memorable after all of these years lies in characters of the three dim-witted, nasty hockey players called the Hanson Brothers. They have amazingly low IQs, but are a terror on the ice. Its there brutality that whips the fans into a frenzy and shows Dunlop the path and opportunity to save the team.

As the satirical story unfolds, the once-empty stadium is packed with blood thirsty fans who are more interested in fighting than hockey. It echoes back to gladiator fights in the Coliseum of Rome. At one point, while every player on both teams are squared off in a grisly battle of fisticuffs, the announcer screams in anger as one of the hockey players refuses to fight. Only at the non-violence does the announcer suggest that real hockey is being betrayed and that children should look away. It is a very funny moment and defines the overall style of the film.

Sprinkled throughout the story are smaller plot lines involving Dunlop's failed marriage and another hockey players failing marriage, both of which are visually represented by the slow death of the mill town itself. The film carries with it a definite 70's gritty film style and anti-establishment attitude.

The Hanson Brothers

I first saw this film on cable television 20 years ago in college and I have to admit that my best friend, Tim, and I still throw quotes from it while watching the Tampa Bay Lightning games. Quotes such as "putting on the foil coach!" or "you go to (penalty) box... you feel shame." are spoken often.

Slap Shot is a classic for it's prototypical 70s film style, the Hanson brothers and its attitude. But, be warned, watching the film is like walking into a minor-league hockey locker room... language, along with the violence, can be brutal.