Kevin Smith will HIT SOMEBODY this year!

From the sounds of things, Kevin Smith is looking to film Hit Somebody this year, his passion project adaptation of the Warren Zevon song about a lifelong hockey fan who wasn't blessed with the talent to be in the NHL on merit but is really good at beating people up on the ice, and is selected as the team's goon. The song is in part about achieving your goals, but the disappointment and anger that comes at not doing it in the way you would have wanted it. Smith has frequently said the song is really personal to him and he can relate to it. He told the Huffington Post in October...

"The great irony is that he's out there doing the thing he's always dreamed about and loves but not in the way he thought he'd be doing it," Smith said. "It's definitely right up my alley and that's where my head is right now. I think its gonna be kick-ass because when I hear that song... Ah, it reminds me of me."

It's well known that the shock to his system that was the Zack and Miri Make a Porno flop forever changed the mindset of Kevin Smith, who if you look closely at that movie, and Clerks II - was promoting the message that you should look around and be happy and content with your stock in life. Sure, you didn't become the rock star or the highly paid lawyer but you have friends, the one you love is closer to you than you think - and yeah, you may live by each paycheck but life is pretty good really. I mean I'm no psychologist or anything but the message from this hockey movie is completely different. And to make this film just after ditching the View Askew universe and on the back of a studio movie from someone elses script, it's easy to get a feeling of Smith looking at himself and saying "stop screwing around!" Smith has forever been a guy who has questioned his talent. His intimate video interviews last year are unusually honest for a film-maker of his popularity, he talks quite intimately about his insecurities and failures. Could Hit Somebody be his movie about how he feels nearing 40 in regards to his filmography and status as a director? Is he telling us he has reached his dreams but then from the movies he has made, it's not quite as sweet as he thought it would be? I dunno - sounds like a good movie though and kinda fascinating to think about in terms of his oeuvre. In a lengthy video interview with the song's writer Mitch Albom, Smith reveals that he hopes to shoot at the Joe Louis Arena in Michigan this year. The Playlist jotted down what he said;

"This is the one, dude, honestly," Smith explains. "Like I've loved everything I've made and what not but this one is different. I can feel it. Maybe it's 'cause I've reached a place in my career where I was like 'you know what, I'm tired of saying things.' I'm very blessed, got to write every script, got to express the heck out of myself. Everything has happen at the right time and 'Hit Somebody' just makes so much sense to me."

On his Smodcast, Smith told us the plot for the film...

"The main character, Buddy, is a dude who loves Hockey. LOVES it. Sees the beauty in it. Wants to be that which he admires so much. He wants to be in the NHL and wants to play hockey. And he gets a chance to play Hockey but not the way he wanted to. The thing is, the dude is insanely passionate about it but no damn good. And there was a way in, and that way was that the dude could fight. So he finally gets in€ we€™re going to do it in the WHA (World Hockey Association). He gets to play professional hockey, but at the same time he doesn€™t get to play the professional hockey that he dreamed of playing. Because every hockey player, every kid dreams of scoring goals, taking it to the net, you€™re the hero and shit. No one dreams about €œI€™m the dude who fucking hits the guy so that the kid over there can take the puck to the net.€ And the glory goes to that guy."

Here's the song...

The above still is from Clerks and Smith quite rightly points out that hockey plays a part in nearly every one of his movies. In Chasing Amy, Holden and Alyssa visit a hockey game, in Dogma the the Stygian Triplets are three teenagers carrying hockey sticks, Seth Rogen and Jeff Anderson actually play hockey in Zack and Miri Make a Porno.