Slap Shot (DVD)

Paul Newman was a magnificent actor, and although he was best known for his brilliant performances in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Verdict, and most recently, Road to Perdition, one of his more memorable and entertaining outings has to be Slap Shot, a film that sees him largely playing against type in a comic role, proving that he has the chops and the versatility to perform well outside of dramatic roles. This film offers up plenty of savage laughs and is one of Newman's most purely entertaining films. The film revolves around a hokey team called the Charlestown Chiefs, who always lose their matches, and are about to stop play because they are ...  Read the complete review

GQ magazine named it best sports film of the last fifty years back in 2007,and this film definitely deserves its place in the sports film genre as one of the all time greats. Based on the fictitious antics of the tough-as-nails Charlestown Chiefs a minor league hockey team in the late 70's,who are in deep financial trouble and are going to fold at the end of the season. They bring in the Hanson brothers a trio of the toughest glasses wearing hockey players that have ever walked the planet,under the watchful eye of washed up player /coach Reg Dunlop played by Paul Newman in possibly one of his most underrated performances as the gritty hanging on till the end ...  Read the complete review

Put simply, "Slap Shot" is everything you will ever need in a sports comedy film. Eminently quotable - fans of the film regularly compile top 10s of the gems contained within - it manages to create a colourful, believable cast of characters without once resorting to the kind of stereotypes which blight movies of this genre. The late (and absolutely great) Paul Newman leads the cast as Reg Dunlop, a semi-retired player and now coach of a going-nowhere fictional ice hockey franchise, the Chiefs. It would be easy to state at this stage that Newman steals the show, and there are scenes in which he does, but the supporting cast all add to the brilliance ...  Read the complete review