May the Enforcer be with you
Canadian director counts on some help from his friends to make a Goon sequel
For his feature-length directorial debut, Jay Baruchel wanted to mix a little finesse with the farce in Goon: Last of the Enforcers.
“It was something that was of paramount importance,” says the 34-year-old promoting the hockey sequel in Toronto. “I think our movie bites real hard but I also think it makes you feel something.”
The first Goon was a 2011 R-rated hit in Canada. It followed the exploits of Doug ‘The Thug’ Glatt (Seann William Scott), a bouncer turned enforcer on a team of Slapshot-type misfits.
In Last of the Enforcers, hockey life is more complicated for Doug and those around him, but the subplots are just as raunchy and sometimes downright rude.
Returning to the fold are Alison Pill, Liev Schreiber, MarcAndré Grondin, Kim Coates and Baruchel. New is Elisha Cuthbert, (Baruchel’s TV co-host from the old show Popular Mechanics for Kids) and Wyatt Russell, son of Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell.
In the latest flick, hockey shenanigans again combine with office laughs, multiple slapstick moments and a few satirical jabs at extremes.
During the shoot mostly in and around southern Ontario, Baruchel says that another key for him was making sure the hockey sequences had some credibility.
Born in Ottawa, raised in Montreal and now based in Toronto, the actor-turned-director, and Last of the Enforcers. co-writer, is a dedicated Montreal Canadiens supporter, so he needed to get the hockey right.
How Habs devoted is he? His Canuck buddy Seth Rogen asked Baruchel to play a version of himself in 2013’s This is the End. But Baruchel wouldn’t do it unless he could wear his Canadiens cap in his opening scene. He got his way.
In other words, he has a reputation to maintain in his native land.
“I wanted the movie to pass the (BS) test,” says Baruchel of the hockey bits. “Canadians abhor show offs and we are also incredibly sensitive to (BS).”
In fact, he’s convinced that the first Goon was popular in his home country because it accurately represented the Dominion’s grassroots sports culture.
“The first one was definitely made for a Canadian audience and it was not foreign or an out-dated version of who Canadians are,” he says. “That’s one of my pet peeves — when a movie feels like its condescending to its audience.”
To help out, the director hired former NHL tough guys Georges Laraque, Colton Orr and George Parros to offer advice and appear in a few slugfests.
“They are big boys but often very humble,” Baruchel says.
Still, he focused on the nonhockey scenes just as earnestly and was thrilled with the cast made up of Canadians and Americans. Some were friends, one he once dated (Pill) and others he was getting to know for the first time.
“I was fortunate to have the company of actors that I had,” he says. “I was spoiled with the riches.”
All were dedicated to digging deep in defining their individual characters.
“You’ve got to care about the stories of the people involved in the movie just as much as you care about the hockey and the fighting,” Baruchel says.
To that end, he made sure everybody in the cast and crew were involved in the creative process.
“It was their sandbox to pitch ideas.”
All things considered, Baruchel’s satisfied with the filmmaking experience.
Upcoming is his role in the TV series Man Seeking Woman (shot in Toronto) and his Hiccup voice work for How to Train Your Dragon 3. Yet Baruchel may turn his attention to directing full time.
“I may hang up my (acting) skates for a moment because I do adore being on the other side of the camera,” he says. “It’s satisfying and fulfilling.”
Adjusting to life in Toronto after three decades in Montreal is something else.
“There are certain cultural incompatibilities,” Baruchel admits. “And I haven’t had a decent sandwich in two years. Montreal gets some stuff wrong but food is not one of them.”
Still, he’s settled into the day-today Toronto routine and he’s realized “the city calms me.”
Forget about switching hockey teams from the Canadiens to the Leafs, however.
“That’s part of the schadenfreude for me,” says Baruchel referring to a person who gets pleasure from the misfortunes of others. “I love being a Habs’ fan in the middle of Leafs Nation.”