Slap Shot (1977) * * *

 

Directed by:  George Roy Hill

Starring:  Paul Newman, Strother Martin, Michael Ontkean, Lindsay Crouse, Jerry Houser, Andrew Duncan, Kathryn Walker, Steve Carlson, Jeff Carlson, David Hanson, Yvon Barrette

Slap Shot is sports satire, vulgarity run amok, and slapstick tied together in an energetic, ungainly package.   There are a large group of characters to account for, which Slap Shot is amazingly able to do.  This is a circus requiring a juggler willing to go above and beyond to keep everything in the air and in motion.  Does it work?  Mostly.   The movie ends with a "big game", but the payoff is unusual and doesn't quite fit the buildup which came before it.  

Slap Shot opens with the sad sack minor league hockey team Charlestown Chiefs, coached by the over-the-hill player/coach Reggie Dunlap (Newman), mired in a losing streak and barely drawing fans.  The ones who do show up shout obscenities at the team even during the national anthem.   There are rumors of the local mill closing, which will also force the Chiefs to fold.   In order to increase revenue and publicity, the team's players are forced into demeaning personal appearances such as a fashion show in which one of the players threatens to expose himself to the largely female audience.   The uncertainty surrounding the mill and the team do not sit well with anyone. 

Dunlap tries with no avail to coach some wins out of his team.   His star player Ned Braden (Ontkean) is the only one who is able to score any goals and largely ignores his alcoholic wife (Crouse), who suspects Ned is either gay or having an affair with another woman.   Manna from heaven falls from the sky in the form of the long-haired, bespectacled, nerdy Hanson Brothers, who play with toys and have a habit of roughing up opponents in ways which under normal circumstances would be considered assault and battery.   Reggie has a eureka moment:  Follow the Hansons' lead and play dirty in ways which would make the Broad Street Bullies blush.   This leads to a win streak, bigger crowds, and an enthusiastic booster club which follows the team on the road.   Reggie, however, still pines for his estranged wife who is moving to Long Island, and spends his time on the road bedding wives of opposing players.  

This is not the material you would expect to see directed by Oscar-winner George Roy Hill (The Sting) and starring Paul Newman, who starred in Hill's The Sting and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, but Newman himself stated Slap Shot was the most fun he'd ever had filming a movie and remained his personal favorite.   Newman can barely contain his glee and performs with a grin throughout Slap Shot.  The cast matches his energy and jump into this lunacy zealously.   This allows Slap Shot to work better than you would expect.