Fish and Cherries Productions

Slap Shot is crude, raunchy, offensive, and violent… and I loved almost every second of it. Part of it comes from the fact that it’s not your average sports movie and it turns a lot of wholesome conventions on their head, culminating in an ending that’s too surreal not to love. It’s very clear that you’re not supposed to entirely side with the home team being as violent in the hockey rink as they are, but it’s so damn hilarious that you start crying out for blood just as much as the spectators on film. Anything involving the childlike yet overly brutal Hanson brothers had me in stitches.

The movie isn’t a complete winner; there’s a subplot involving someone possibly sleeping with the main character’s wife that I didn’t really follow. There’s also a lot of truly offensive language, so this might turn off some people with more delicate sensibilities. However, the fact that this was written by a woman, an Academy Award winner in fact, might mitigate some potential outrage. That right there sums up this movie in a nutshell: bro-ishness and feminism mixed together with an overpowering dose of the seventies. I feel sad that this movie has somewhat fallen through the cracks of popular consciousness because it really is unlike any sports movie I’ve ever seen. Even if you’re not a fan of sports movies, definitely give this one a shot. A “slap shot,” if you will.