SCREAMINGLY Funny! Ice Hockey Like You've Never Seen!
Remember ice hockey in the 1970s? The violence, the fights, the fans screaming when 2 or more opposing players squared off? Paul Newman plays Reggie Dunlop, the player/coach of the minor league Charlestown Chiefs who are losing a lot and can't draw any fans. Then, he decides that, if "old time hockey" doesn't sell, then maybe violence will. So the Chiefs, aided by the 3 Hanson brothers who were recently acquired on the cheap by the Chiefs' GM (Strother Martin) and who introduce the team to on ice fights that bring in the fans, become championship contenders, though they find the team will fold after the current season.
This movie was groundbreaking in its time as it used the uncensored locker room language used by all athletes in locker rooms, on the field or ice, in baseball dugouts, and anywhere males converse with one another in their universally understood sports related patois. Newman is comedically brilliant as Reggie Dunlop, the player/coach of the team and Strother Martin is also as Joe McGrath, the GM of this team.
The rest of the cast are mostly unknowns, except for Michael Ontkean as Ned Braden, Melinda Dillon as a disaffected player's wandering wife, and Jennifer Warren as Dunlop's separated wife. The 3 Hanson brothers were real hockey pros, 2 of whom - IIRC - played in the NHL.
What "Bull Durham" was for baseball is what "Slap Shot" is for hockey, a somewhat vulgar but laugh out loud enjoyable time. It's not something the NY Times would give 5 stars, probably, but it's a 5 star movie IMNSHO.
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