Last year’s economic catastrophe again revealed the sad truth about the industrial decay of many Western countries. Those problems had actually been present for a very long time, but when they first became apparent, they were sometimes met with humour. One of the films to use this approach is Slap Shot, the 1977 sports comedy directed by George Roy Hill.
The plot is set in Charlestown, a fictional town in the Northeastern USA, where the upcoming closure of the local steel mill means that thousands of inhabitants would lose their jobs. This brings an uncertain future for the Charlestown Chiefs, the town’s already struggling minor hockey league team. Its player-coach Reggie Dunlop (played by Paul Newman) tries to stave off the inevitable folding of the team by encouraging his teammates to be as violent as possible and care less about actually scoring goals. The strategy seems to be working, and enthusiastic fans are filling the arena seats, but Ned Braden (played by Michael Ontkean), the only college graduate among the team’s players, seems increasingly troubled by the mayhem on the ice and wants to see the old ‘clean’ hockey.
Paul Newman said that Slap Shot was one of his favourite films and the one he had the most fun making. This might be true, but, as in many other examples, the cast and crew having fun on set often doesn’t relate to the fun experienced by the audience. Although directed by George Roy Hill, a veteran who directed Newman in his biggest hits like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and The Sting, this film lacks coherence and the plot often serves as a weak excuse for gags and jokes which revolve around graphic violence and sex, often becoming too repetitive. The cast, while made up of solid actors, isn’t used well, and one example might be found in Michael Ontkean’s bland character of Braden, who is even blander in scenes featuring his wife, played by Lindsay Crouse, with whom he hasn’t got much chemistry.
The overall result is disappointing, and it isn’t surprising that Slap Shot fared badly among contemporary critics and audiences alike. It received something of a cult status only decades later, when rediscovered in video shops, and this could be better explained by 1970s nostalgia than by any suddenly discovered quality. Slap Shot, better than many other films, provides very good insight into the fashion, music and changing sexual mores of the time, and this is due to being set in a small town where such a slice of life looks more authentic. That authenticity also reflects itself in the bittersweet and somewhat un-Hollywood ending that is completely in tune with the socio-economic realities of the time Slap Shot was made.
RATING: 5/10 (++)
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Movie URL: https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/11590-slap-shot Critic: AA
