One of my all-time favorite sports movies, 1977's SLAP SHOT is hilarious. Paul Newman stars as Reggie Dunlop, Coach of the hapless Charleston Chiefs. Beyond B league and forced to do endless fashion shows and radio shows by their manager Joe Magrath (VERY funny Strother Martin) the Chiefs are halfway through a losing season and heading nowhere. When a lot of signs point to the Chiefs folding, Newman pulls out all the stops to turn the team into a crowd pleasing spectacle. There are so many funny moments here big and small, they add up to big laughs and adult hilarity. The Hansen Brothers, team radio announcer Jim Carr, the arena organ player (NO More Lady of Spain, EVER!) and every perverted thing Morris (Brad Sullivan) says are LOL funny. Director George Roy Hill (The Sting, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid) is at the peak of his game. I remember seeing this back in 1977 and being astonished that this profane, nasty sports movie was written by a woman, Nancy Dowd. She broke true ground here and blazed a trail for many great women screenwriters and proved she could kick the boys ass when it came to writing a great sports movie! Get out your Hansen Bros glasses, get the kids out of the room and get ready for SLAP SHOT. It's a hilarious sports movie classic that we'll slap with an A!
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