"Goon," Directed by Michael Dowse "An infantile way for a man to spend his adult years," sniffs Dr. Glatt (Eugene Levy), a pompous New England physician, when his son Doug (Seann William Scott) declares that a hockey enforcer, or goon, is his choice of occupation. "I'm stupid," Doug replies. "For once in my life I get to wear a uniform that doesn't have "security" on it." This is the moment, midway in the film, when "Goon" reveals its true colors and turns from a rowdy sports farce into something vaguely resembling the "Rocky" of hockey movies. Until then it has presented a pungently realistic vision of an extremely violent and chaotic sport and the roughnecks who devote their lives to it. Directed by Michael Dowse ("It's All Gone Pete Tong") from a screenplay by Jay Baruchel and Evan Goldberg, the movie was inspired by the book "Goon: The True Story of an Unlikely Journey into Minor League Hockey," by Doug Smith and Adam Frattasio. Clearly, the film's creators are intimately acquainted with every rank, sweat-stained crevice of the supermacho culture of professional hockey, its arcane rituals and its profane, combative style of male camaraderie. In almost every scene in the rink, fists fly, and blood is spilled, but the violence is no big deal; it goes with the job. Doug, who used to work as a bouncer at a bar in Orangetown, Mass., is recruited as a goon for the Halifax Highlanders after a scout observes him in a brawl at a local game. Doug has such weak ankles that he can hardly stand up on his skates in the beginning. But he has a knockout punch and a fist, one player says, "the size of my Uncle Murphy's prostate." His best friend (Mr. Baruchel) admiringly calls Doug, who is Jewish, "the Hebrew Dolph Lundgren." Once he is recruited to the Highlanders, and his reputation spreads, he is known as "Doug the Thug." When not a raging beast dispatched onto the ice to beat up an opponent, Doug is a shy, courtly lug and touchingly gung-ho team player who calls his coaches "Sir." Unlike his fellow players, he doesn't have a cynical bone in his body. He has a hard time winning the respect of his party-loving roommate, Xavier LaFlamme (Marc-André Grondin), whom he is charged to protect on the ice. Xavier's performance hasn't been the same since he was felled by Doug's idol and potential nemesis, Ross Rhea (Liev Schreiber), a mustachioed enforcer who is approaching retirement. When Ross and Doug meet shortly before their inevitable showdown, Ross ruefully remarks, "Like me, you're no good to anyone doing anything else." It must be said that Mr. Scott and Mr. Schreiber convey an intelligence that belies their characters" stupidity, a quality that is really hard to feign. Alison Pill makes something very special out of the role of Eva, a hockey groupie Doug spots in a bar and falls in love with at first sight. Eva has the sad, vulnerable air of a woman who has succumbed to her weaknesses too many times for comfort. Although she has a boyfriend, she leads Doug on, then drops him, then reconsiders. Of her name, she says, "It's like the Bible with a bit more mustard on it." The screenplay is peppered with such sharp, off-the-cuff remarks. When Doug and Eva reconnect late in the movie, she tells him: "I'm a slut. I'm horny a lot. I sleep around. But her attitude isn't self-lacerating so much as wearily self-accepting. It is refreshing in a movie to meet a wild woman who seems to be in charge of her life and isn't "ruined" by experience. Behind the film's brass knuckles are tender fingers. Why else would "Goon" use music from Puccini's "Turandot" to underscore critical dramatic moments? "Goon" is rated R (Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian). It is very violent and profane. Goon Opens on Friday in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Minneapolis. Directed by Michael Dowse; written by Jay Baruchel and Evan Goldberg, inspired by the book "Goon: The True Story of an Unlikely Journey into Minor League Hockey," by Doug Smith and Adam Frattasio; director of photography, Bobby Shore; edited by Reginald Harkema; music by Ramachandra Borcar; production design by Gord Wilding; costumes by Heather Neale; produced by Don Carmody, David Gross, André Rouleau, Mr. Baruchel and Ian Dimmerman; released by Magnet Releasing. In Manhattan at the Village East, Second Avenue at 12th Street, East Village. WITH: Seann William Scott (Doug Glatt), Jay Baruchel (Pat), Alison Pill (Eva), Marc-André Grondin (Xavier LaFlamme), Kim Coates (Ronnie Hortense), Eugene Levy (Dr. Glatt) and Liev Schreiber (Ross Rhea).