Category: Comedy
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The sexism of ‘Gregory’s Girl’ (1981) can’t be tolerated today
Gregory’s Girl is an iconic coming-of-age movie from 1981. Using a cast of teenagers from the Glasgow Youth Theatre, Writer-Director Bill Forsyth follows Gregory as he schemes to win the heart of the ground-breaking girl who has joined his high school football team.
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Soccer fans bind together in ‘La Gran Final’ (2006)
Soccer cannot unite the world. But for a few hours, the motivation to watch a game allows people to set aside their differences. La Gran Final is a triptych of disappearing cultures joining with the modern forces that swallow them, to watch, with ebullient shared enthusiasm, the 2000 World Cup Final of Germany versus Brazil.
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‘Looking for Eric’ (2009) and finding a wise Cantona
Don’t be put off by the opening scene of Looking for Eric, where Eric the postman tries to kill himself by driving on the wrong side of a roundabout. Stay for the ride, because this movie is a comedy-drama with an outrageous feel-good ending.
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Ideal soccer date movie: ‘Romeo and Juliet get Married’ (2005)
A few years after making Bossa Nova, Bruno Barreto directed this Brazilian comedy, O Casamento de Romeu e Julieta, which is another, even better, soccer date movie.
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Mystical and omnipotent ‘Shaolin Soccer’ (2001)
After watching a slew of soccer movies, I reopened my Shaolin Soccer DVD. I liked it 10 years ago, but now I recognize how inventive the movie is. A group of penniless former Shaolin monks rekindle their love of kung fu by applying it to soccer.
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‘Mean Machine’ (2001) soccer’s version of ‘The Longest Yard’
Burt Reynolds’ The Longest Yard is one of my favorite movies, and Mean Machine is almost as good. This British soccer version, starring former EPL player Vinnie Jones, stays pretty close to the original story.
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The no-talent path to becoming ‘El Crack’ (2011)
With absurdist humor, Chileano Writer-Director Nicolás López delivers a Southpark-like tale in El Crack. Freddy (Ariel Levy), who calls himself Mr. Fantasia, fancies himself a top forward with fame in his future. But the only reason he gets any playing time is because his wife murders his competitors.
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‘Johan’ (2005) finds love despite 10 footballing brothers
Johan is a very enjoyable dramedy/romance that, in a gentle way, shows that soccer is just a game, even in the Netherlands. The youngest in a family of 11 soccer-obsessed Dutch boys and their father, Johan doesn’t fit in because his obsession is music.
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If Jurgen Klinsmann preferred ‘Guys and Balls’ (2004)
This German soccer movie, Guys and Balls, is predictable but very cute. Ecki, a small-town goalkeeper and baker, is kicked off his semi-pro team for being gay. In defiance, he organizes an all-gay team to play against his former team in their home stadium, resulting in a nice strike against homophobia.
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Young monks get to watch ‘The Cup’ (1999)
You don’t expect much to happen in a Buddhist monastery. So it is not surprising that Phörpa (The Cup) is very slow paced. A spirited young soccer-obsessed monk defies the monastery’s way of life in order to watch World Cup 1998. But the abbot, although he does not understand why men fight over a ball…
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‘The Match’ (1999) a small but classic underdog soccer movie
The Match is a sweet spin on the underdog theme. The story is set in a picturesque Scottish village, the teams represent two pubs in a 100-year competition, and this is the year that winner takes all.
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Rodney Dangerfield earns respect for ‘Ladybugs’ (1992)
Ladybugs is the first soccer movie to make me laugh all the way through! Chester knows nothing about soccer, but he volunteers to coach the boss’ daughter’s team in the hopes of getting a long-deserved promotion.
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‘Soccer Mom’ (2008) is a movie for moms
The first time I saw Soccer Mom on cable, I didn’t like it. The soccer was bad, and the makeup for Missi Pyle—who masquerades as a famous male Italian footballer in order to coach her daughter’s team—was so unbelievable it was distracting.
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Review: The Art of Soccer with John Cleese (2006)
Variously named as the The Art of Soccer with John Cleese or the Art of Football from A to Z, it appears this made for TV film was commissioned by Germany for World Cup 2006. John Cleese pontificates on 26 alphabetical aspects of the game.
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Fits of ‘Kicking & Screaming’ (2005) not funny next to kids
Although Will Ferrell often plays a psychotic jerk, he is really a jock who majored in sports broadcasting at USC. Maybe that’s why so many of his movies have a sports theme. Kicking & Screaming is his soccer movie.
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‘Dias de futbol’ (2003) a funny Spanish buddy film
Días de fútbol, or Football Days, is a pretty funny Spanish buddy film about 7 men who resolve to enter and win a soccer league in order to cheer up Jorge, who has been dumped by his long-time girlfriend. All of the men have troubled love lives, and they are all terrible soccer players. They are…
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‘El Portero’ (2000) a pretty Spain in the ugly era of Franco
In El Portero, a former Real Madrid goalkeeper known as the King of the Penalty Kick, travels the Spanish countryside, wagering men to score against him. The villagers and the underground openly express their opposition to the repressive military dictatorship via a comedic penalty kick shootout versus the soldiers.
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‘The Soccer Nanny’ (2011) a little too coy for today
In The Soccer Nanny, a recently widowed mother (ex-pornstar Traci Lords) hires a male au pair from Norway to provide a role model for her 9 and 16 year old sons while she runs the family’s bison farm in the “Little Sweden” town of Lindsborg, Kansas.
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‘Rudo y Cursi’ (2008) a story you can’t forget
Rudo y Cursi is an artful story of hick half-brothers from banana plantations in the Cihuatlán Valley between Jalisco and Colima. An agent discovers them and signs them to opposing First Division teams in Mexico City, where they succumb to the trappings of success.
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‘Studs’ (2006) a revived Irish comedy with theatrical roots
Studs is an Irish soccer comedy with a good performance from Brendan Gleeson (Harry Potter’s Professor MadEye Moody). Gleeson plays a mysterious manager whose seeming identity inspires a ragtag Sunday team to a Cup final. But the downer ending left me very ambivalent.