STUFF YOU GOTTA WATCH

SLAP SHOT

(1977)
With Paul Newman, Strother Martin, Michael Ontkean, Jennifer Warren, Lindsay Crouse, Jeff Carlson, Steve Carlson, David Hanson, Melinda Dillon
Directed by George Roy Hill
Reviewed by JL

Which one is Curly? One of the all-time great sports comedies, as well as the ultimate "guy flick," SLAP SHOT is a crude and bawdy look at a world of sports far removed from the glitter and hype of the pro circuit. Paul Newman plays Reggie Dunlop, the player-coach of a pathetically inept minor-league hockey team. Midway through another losing season, with the team on the verge of financial collapse, they are rescued in the eleventh hour with the arrival of the Hanson brothers, three nerdy goons who play with toys in their hotel room and play hockey like bloodthirsty savages. When the rest of the team adopts their dirty tactics, they climb in the standings and play to packed houses. A film that's a powerful and wryly humorous character drama at its core with some Three Stooges-level humor mixed in. (Unlike the Stooges, however, bonks to the head require several stitches in SLAP SHOT.) - JL