Stars: Paul Newman, Strother Martin, Jennifer Warren, Michael Ontkean, Lindsay Crouse, Jerry Houser, Steve Carlson, Andrew Duncan, Allan Nicholls

Director: George Roy Hill

Summary: The story of the coach of a fading ice hockey team which must boost attendances or disappear. Violent, fast-paced comedy.

A rougher version of George Roy Hill's pet theme of men as overaged adolescents, SLAP SHOT stars Paul Newman as Reggie Dunlop, the venerable player-coach of the Charlestown Chiefs, a fifth-rate minor league hockey team. When their blue-collar town falls prey to Rust Belt ills of the 1970s, attendance drops, and the greedy owner starts looking for a buyer, anxious to cash out. Dunlop is informed that the players need to crank up the box office to keep their jobs in what will likely be their last season. To the coach's dismay, general manager Joe McGrath (Strother Martin) imports the Hanson brothers, a hockey Three Stooges who like to assault soda machines and play with toys. But once Dunlop turns them loose, they're a Panzer division on ice, and the team starts winning by adopting their bone-crushing style. Although the team is on the upswing, Dunlop's wife, Francine (Jennifer Warren), seems to be through with him, and the isolated wives of the other players aren't much happier with their fate. This sidesplitting, profanity saturated film is one of the funniest ever made about any sport. While writer Nancy Dowd intended to probe darker issues--such as the greed of ownership, the blood lust of fans, and the childishness of the players--Hill submerges them in raucous laughter. Newman is near his peak as the romantic, manipulative, womanizing, hard-drinking coach, and the high-sticking Hanson brothers achieve comic immortality in their only film appearance.

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Paul Newman and his Butch Cassidydirector, George Roy Hill, made a very original comedy in this 1977 story of an over-the-hill player/coach (Newman) for a lousy hockey team who gets results when he teaches his players to get dirty. One of the most hilariously profane movies ever to come out of Hollywood, this is the kind of film that makes its own rules as it goes along. Newman is very good, and while Hill goes for the gusto in terms of capturing the violence of this world, his instinct for comedy has never been sharper. Great support from Strother Martin, Paul Dooley, and the rest. --Tom Keogh, Amazon.com

Main Language:	English
Region:	Region 2
Special Features:	Audio Commentary, Trailers
Year:	1977
Release Date:	October 7, 2002
Runtime:	119 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	902 628 9
Keywords:	Shot, Comedy, General, Slap, Slapshot
Genre:	Comedy