Slap Shot 2 (movie post)
Slap Shot 2: Breaking the Ice was meant as a sequel to George Roy Hill's Slap Shot (1977), which starred Paul Newman and seems to be a cult movie among hockey fans. Slap Shot 2 takes place 25 years after, with again the Hanson Brothers, as part of a losing hockey team in a minor league, still playing their "old time hockey". The team is given a new female coach when it’s bought by a family entertainment corporation ("Better America"!) to play and lose against a younger and "clean" team.
Callum plays Palmberg, the sex obsessed alternate captain.
The IMDB page: Slap Shot 2 (2002)
It is Steve Boyum’s 4th movie about hockey. He also committed a Timecop 2, directed several TV series episodes (Smallville, Bionic Woman…) and performed a lot of stunts.
C6D-wise, Jessica Steen, the female lead, played Maggie, Fraser’s sister, in dueSouth.
David Paetkau aka Gordie Miller currently plays Sam Braddock in Flashpoint along Hugh Dillon.
Andrew McIlroy as Dexter Howell, the gay coach and choregrapher of the Ice Breakers team, is also Jacob Cantrell, Sagittaron's current representative to the Quorum of Twelve, in Battlestar Galactica.
David Lewis, playing Rick Cooper, Claremont’s jack of all trades, appeared in many TV series, and has played along Callum in Code Name: The Cleaner, The Butterfly Effect and Falling from the Sky: Flight 174
Cast / Characters:
Stephen Baldwin
Jessica Steen
Gary Busey
David Hemmings
David Paetkau
Callum Keith Rennie
Jonathan Scarfe
Jody Racicot
Steve Carlson
David Hanson
Jeff Carlson
Andrew McIlroy
David Lewis
Sean Linden
Jessie Dage
Richmond Claremont
Martin Fox
Gordie Miller
Palmberg
Skipper Day
Gasmer
Steve Hanson
Jack Hanson
Jeff Hanson
Dexter Howell
Rick Cooper
Year: 2002
Runtime: 98 min.
Country: USA
IMDB rating: 4.4/10 (1,142 votes)
Genre: Comedy / Sports
Keywords: Puck Bunnies | Hockey | Sequel | Violence
MPAA rating: Rated R for strong language and some sexuality
Awards:
Slap Shot 2 won 2003 DVD Premiere Award for Best Supporting Actor (The Hanson Brothers). And was nominated in 8 categories, same awards (meant to "recognize creative achievement in programming that makes its debut on video.")
There are 28 user comments on the IMDB page. Here’s one:
avoid this movie: If you like the original "Slapshot," good acting and a good plot, rent anything else other than this travesty of film-making. However, if you do enjoy bad VD jokes, monotone Steven Baldwin acting and a storyline a kindergartner could poke holes into, then by all means rent "Slapshot 2: Breaking the Ice." Seriously, the only good thing about this film was seeing the original Hanson Brothers reprise their roles, which was not nearly enough to save it. A life-size cardboard cutout of Paul Newman has more acting talent than Steven Baldwin. And I'm being generous. Only if you have a severely morbid sense of curiosity would I suggest you watch this film.
2 comments mention Callum (extracts):
Callum Keith Rennie (an astounded (sic) Canadian actor - who probably signed for this film because of the first ones status and a film about ice hockey) is slightly wasted in this movie. We can see him in other roles that show of his natural talents as a brilliant actor, but playing Palmberg, it was enough to keep watching and laughing.
That said, this movie isn't really bad, but it's nothing to get excited about either. Jessica Steen and Callum Keith Rennie are utterly wasted. The film rests on the rather inadequate shoulders of Stephen Baldwin, who, in addition to having gone somewhat to seed in the last few years, seems unable to portray any emotional depth.
Comments generally express disappointment compared to the original movie. They range from to avoid to best movie ever with a majority of Boooooooo. They all can be found here
Callum Quotient: 30%
Pictures:
from Cap it! Before I die of waitin’!
The trailer is available from the movie official site or from You Tube
Quotes:
- "There’s never been a movie like Slapshot and there will never be another" (from Slapshot (1977) trailer)
- "- I like your hair.
- Thanks.
- Is that your natural colour?
- Yes.
- Because a lot of redheads say it's their natural colour, but it's not.
- Believe me, it's real.
- Why don't you prove it to me?
- How?
- Why don't you let me look down below, see if the carpet matches the drapes?
- You're a pig.
- What?.. Scientific… Dyke."
Palmberg and a redheaded girl in a bar - "- I'm Jessie Dage, your new coach.
- New coach?
- A coach with no dick?" - "- Palmberg, how many cards?
- No, no. I'm sitting pretty, suckin' on Lady Luck's titty." - "- I'm gonna fucking kill that guy.
- Kids seem to love that clown Palmberg. What a pratfall he took. They love to see...
- 50 bucks if you do it again.
- 60.
- You're on.
- OK.
- Play coming back now… Palmberg back on his feet… Play going by… And whoa! Down he goes again! All that's missing from the Super Chiefs are the clown shoes and funny noses.
- See? They love you."
Palmberg and Linden, plus commnentator, after Palmberg’s fallen on his ass - "Palmberg ridin' high. He's just scored. He's lovin' it. Looks like Palmberg just scored again in the corner. Those girls gave Palmberg a high stick. They gave me one."
Commentator, after Palmberg has scored and some fans show him their tits - "As my ballet teacher used to say, 'It ain't over till the swan takes it in the ass.'"
Jessie encouraging the Chiefs to play old time hockey
Trivia:
- A slapshot (or slap shot) in ice hockey is the hardest shot.
- This movie was inspired by Fox's glowing puck, which attempted to add glitz and glamour to the game at the expense of the game itself.
- Dave Babych who was in the movie played 19 years in the NHL and he's the brother of Wayne Babych.
- The Hanson Brother characters inspired Canadian rock / punk band Nomeansno to create an alter-ego band, The Hanson Brothers, playing Ramones-style songs about girls, hockey and beer, mentioned by Callum in an interview.
- There is a Slap Shot 3: the Junior League under way, again starring the Hanson Brothers: they are coaches now, and they have their kids as part of the hockey team.
- The word "fuck" is used 85 times in the film, thirteen times less than the original Slap Shot.
- Palmberg’s number is 27.
- It has been said that due to Callum's decision to sign on to Slap Shot 2 and because of production delays in Men With Brooms, he was unable to be in Paul Gross' movie. Paul Gross wanted him to play Peter Outerbridge's character, Lennox and had confirmed his participation on July 2000 AOL Canada Live chat: "Callum has a spot on the team, his curling rocks are polished up and he is, according to well placed sources (him) already practicing."
Interesting scenes:
- Jessie punching Linden when he comes on to her the first day they meet
- Jessie walking on Palmberg fucking a girl in a shower (probably the least sexy of all sexy scenes Callum has played)
- The hockey games, in a general way
- Palmberg after he falls down the first time, you can see him winning an inner battle between kickin’em in the head and accepting to play the clown’s part, all in a few seconds
Polls
- Do I want to show this to my parents / friends / co-workers?
- Palmberg
This way to the polls
Does he die?
You really want to know? Are you sure? Really sure? Well, then. (highlight to read)
::Nope::
Articles/interviews about the movie
I glanced through the guide on my television at all the movies scheduled to play on AMC over the next few days... How did it come to this? Is there really that much of a television demand for Slap Shot 2? It has a Baldwin brother in it for Pete’s sake. This channel must be stopped. It must be destroyed, erased from existence. Or maybe, someone will get smart and fire AMC’s program director.
From here.
Reviews at Rotten Tomatoes (average rating: 3.6/10)
- Not even the Hanson Brothers can save it
- I was sent a copy of this film to review on DVD. For free. I still want my money back.
- How do you spell cliché?
- Take your pick of disappointing sequels and I’ll bet you won’t find one that approaches the utter stupidity of Slap Shot 2.
- Horrible
REEL WEST - Hockey Schtick August - September 2001
(Cut for length, but the whole article is worth reading.)
"Show me what you’ve got." That was the order given by Paul Newman to three of his Charleston Chiefs players in the 1977 film Slap Shot. Minutes later, the three players, known collectively as the Hanson Brothers, were out on the ice beating up the opposing team and creating a mayhem that reached its crescendo when one of the "brothers" whacked every player on the opponents’ bench with his stick.
Almost a quarter of a century later, the Hanson Brothers are still playing hockey. In Slap Shot II: Breaking the Ice, which was recently filmed in rinks throughout the Vancouver area, the players who played the Hansons - Dave Hanson, Jeff Carlson and Steve Carlson - men who played a total of 85 National Hockey League games, accumulating a total of 22 goals (21 by Steve Carlson), have graduated, in stage parlance, from being spear carriers (literally) to co-stars of the movie. "We never saw ourselves as actors, " says Steve Carlson, outside one of the sets, a South Surrey arena. "But it seems that most of the people who remember the movie remember us. So, when the idea for a sequel came along, we got the call." (...)
Baldwin plays Linden, a guy who was drummed out of the NHL and now toils in the minor leagues. There, he encounters a group of career minor leaguers, including the Hansons, and eventually moves, with the team, from a second rate league and arenas to a posh private arena owned by an eccentric millionaire (Busey) who has purchased the team in order for it to play "Washington Generals" to his slick "Harlem Globetrotters-style" Omaha Icebreakers.
The film was originally destined for a straight-to-video release. However, Universal Pictures, which made the movie, recently began to have second thoughts. The popularity of the first film could see some theatrical release, particularly in hockey-mad Canada. The film’s director, Steve Boyum, says that he has always seen theatrical potential for the movie. "One of the requirements that the studio has of me is that I deliver a cut negative and an answer print, so we are finishing on film. You generally don’t finish on film with straight-to-video projects, but the further we go down the road to final production the more I see it as a good movie. I’m too old to delude myself about movies. It may not be the best movie ever made, but it’s better than most and I think the audience would really like to see it on the big screen. I think that in Canada alone there are enough fans of the original movie to justify its release."
(...) Boyum, a former athlete and stunt man (...) says (...) "I think my non-understanding of the game taught me some of the issues that kept (Americans) from being fans. I couldn’t follow the puck whenever I would try to watch it, and so I thought that it would be best to keep the camera on ice level so the audience would know where the puck was. I built a lot of my work around that dynamic and then I would bring faces into it." (...)
Boyum says that he wanted to make a darker film but says he was also aware that the key to making a sequel to the Hill film was to give the viewing audience the sense that they were in the stands. "I wanted to pay homage to him and his film but I also wanted to make this film a new experience for everyone," he says. (...) "Basically, the centerpiece of the story is following this former player (Baldwin) down a dark path and then he brings everyone in his wake along with him. In the end of the film he realizes what he has done and changes things. It is a classic drama, in that regard, but it is laced with broad comedy. I knew that each of the characters had to be quirkishly individual. I used some of Hill’s character development and then moved forward and we took some new steps with these characters and this story because all of these people are individuals. I also wanted to give the film a retro feel through the clothes of the characters and even some of the stadiums. I felt that would allow some imprint from the original film to be in the sequel."
(...) Dave Babych, a former player with Winnipeg and Vancouver, saw the original film while playing junior hockey in Portland, Oregon. Twenty four years later, he has a small role in the sequel. He says that while most observers thought the Hansons were violent, he felt that the style of hockey reflected the times. (...) Babych says that while he didn’t know much about acting professionally before he started working on the film, he has learned a lot from watching actors like Steven Baldwin and Callum Keith Rennie. (...) "So a lot of this stuff is goofy but most of it does happen. I think the credibility will come during the real hockey scenes, because in the movie hockey moves back to its roots. I think real fans will appreciate that more than the rest of the audience." (...) Although Joel Ransom, the film’s director of photography, was able to find ways of making the budget work for him, shooting a feature film in less than a month, for just $4 million is never going to be easy. "There were some days where we were averaging 70 setups a day," he says. "By contrast, when we were shooting The X-Files, we were doing 24 setups a day. There are occasions when you will do as few as 18 on some features." (...)
You can read the full article here.
Articles/interviews about Callum in it
Canadian, Content from Vancouver magazine, November, 2002 (extract)
He was also featured for two seasons on the earnest and much-loved television show Due South, and he’s been in decidedly less ambitious movies (Slapshot 2: Breaking the Ice, 2001).
From here.
Rennie's hot on ice, Edmonton Sun, March 22, 2001 (extract)
Callum Keith Rennie is now officially the coolest actor in Canada. Not because he grew up in Edmonton and still visits often, though that certainly has something to do with it. Not because he's starred in seminal Canadian indie flicks like Hard Core Logo and Last Night, or our country's most popular TV export, Due South. No, Rennie is officially the coolest actor in Canada because he's going to be in Slap Shot II. Yes, you read that right. A sequel to the greatest. Hockey film. Of. All. Time. "Yep," a clearly pleased Rennie said yesterday, on his cellphone after wrapping up a rehearsal for the shooting-in-Vancouver feature. "Monday was the first day on ice."
Given that the interview was supposed to be about Rennie's co-starring role in Suspicious River, screening tonight at the Local Heroes International Film festival, it was tough to be polite and not grill the actor mercilessly about this revelation. Rennie did say he's playing a character who's sort of an amalgamation of two characters from the 1977 original, which starred Paul Newman and introduced the world to the Hanson Brothers. "They originally wanted me to come in for some other part and I said, 'Look, I'm 40.' "
Like any red-blooded Canadian kid, Rennie played minor hockey while growing up in Edmonton. When working in Los Angeles, he also plays pickup games with other actors from Toronto and Vancouver. "As soon as I started spending time in L.A., I needed a lot of distraction," said Rennie. "When I'm down south, I just feel like I'm in a foreign country, and I'm away from friends and people who keep me connected and interested in what I do." No doubt, eh.
From here.
Links
There’s a Wikipedia entry dedicated to the movie.
Movie official site
Hanson brothers’ Official site
Jessica Steen’s site has some pics, some with Callum.
slidellra posted a snippet here.
slidellra made an arbor-day card for zabira "inspired" by Slap Shot 2.
c_regalis made a picspam about the Carpet-And-Drapes thing here.
bluebelle789 posted a Black Shirt picspam including pics of Palmberg (scroll down some, no hardship to go through the whole post) here.
callumvixen shares a YOU BET YOUR PALMBERG picspam here.
Availability
The movie is maybe the most easily available of Callum’s movies, here for instance.
The DVD includes a making of (Slapshot 2: Behind the Glass) with a brief glimpse of Callum, as Boyum’s directing the team.
In conclusion
I hated the movie the first time I saw it - I practically hid to watch it. I had so low expectations that I found re-watching less painful than I thought it would be. No opinion as to the hockey filming part. I understand it refers to “old time” hockey, more violent, less ‘clean’. Is it realistic, well done? No idea really (lack of reference, here). I haven’t watched the original Slap Shot, so I cannot compare either.
Without Baldwin’s poor acting and the Hanson brothers’ pranks, it wouldn’t be so awful. Jessica Steen (Maggie!) is good. Callum’s quite efficient in his sleazy asshole’s role. When he’s not around women, his character is OK. Mostly. If you don’t listen too closely to most of his lines. When he hasn’t got any painful lines to deliver, he stays in the background, generally slouching. And he manages to be scruffily pretty. As a bonus you get to see him naked in a shower, or playing some mean hockey. And falling. Watch out when you see one of the Chiefs falling on the ice, it’s probably Palmberg. He sort of acts as a comic relief for Baldwin (supposed)’s darker role. We can only wish it had been the reverse.
Thank you for reading and please let me know if you have anything to add.
I probably missed some piscpam? Anyone finds redeeming qualities to Palmberg? Do you prefer Callum playing a womanizing asshole, or a psycho killer? (tough one, since as a (psycho) killer he also often acts the womanizing asshole anyway)
ETA1: Polls won't work! You can take them in the next post (please do!)
ETA2: Added callumvixen's picspam and a trivia on Men With Brooms (thanks brooklinegirl!)
ETA3: Added slidellra's arbor-day card
ETA4: Added c_regalis' note to the CD6degrees section