Slap Shot
Short description
Reggie Dunlop is a veteran player and coach of the Charlestown Chiefs, a minor-league hockey team that keeps losing and has fallen to the bottom of the standings. With the club struggling to draw crowds and facing an uncertain future, its management looks for a way to bring spectators back. The arrival of the Hanson brothers, three bruising players who treat the game as an excuse for physical punishment, gives Reggie an idea: if the team cannot win by skill, it can win by intimidation.
Directed by George Roy Hill, Slap Shot was released in 1977 and followed The Great Waldo Pepper in his filmography. It was written by Nancy Dowd and produced by Stephen J. Friedman and Robert J. Wunsch. Paul Newman, in the lead role of Reggie, is joined by Strother Martin, Michael Ontkean, Jennifer Warren, Lindsay Crouse and Jerry Houser, among a credited cast of 35. It is a comedy with dramatic elements set in a declining industrial town where the hockey team is one of the few things left to care about.
Made for around 6 million dollars, the film took in roughly 28 million worldwide, a strong return. On IMDb it holds a 7.2 from about 45,000 votes, while on TMDB it has a 6.8 from fewer voters, and it earned a 7.5 from 38 critics' reviews.
What's left behind the scenes
- Universal Pictures offered Steve Carlson, Jeff Carlson, and David Hanson roles in their own spin-offs, but they preferred to return to hockey.
- Al Pacino expressed interest in the film, but fell out with director George Roy Hill (1921-2002) when the latter asked the actor if he could skate. The actor later deeply regretted leaving the project.
- During rehearsals, Yvonne Barrett suffered a knee injury when a puck hit it. She worried she would be replaced by another actress, but director George Roy Hill (1921-2002) suspended filming of scenes involving Barrett to allow him to recover. This took the actor 10 days, but from that point on, to avoid further delays in the hockey scenes, Ronald L. Docken began to substitute for him.
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