Slap Shot

While Newman's ice hockey manager struggles to revive his ailing team's fortunes with a trio of recruits who specialise most successfully in foul tactics, the movie tries, sadly, to have its cake and eat it: ostensibly deploring the commercialisation and violence that has increasingly taken over the arena, it simultaneously revels in the bone-crunching dirty play on display. Similarly, it's really just an old-fashioned piece of wish fulfilment, rather duplicitously dressed up in foul language and sexual references in a cynical attempt to look modern. That said, there are still some nice touches of absurdist satirical wit hanging out along the sidelines, given extra bite by Dede Allen's superbly pacy editing.