Category: Drama
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‘United Passions’ (2014) – a Blattering biopic
Surprise, surprise. The FIFA Movie — otherwise known as F2014, Film 2014, A Men’s Dream, and finally, United Passions — is not bad. Yes, the movie is a conceit, and yes, FIFA shamelessly portrays English football bureaucrats as racist, sexist, and classist “English Bastards”.
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‘Game of Life’ (2007) – don’t let the soccer ball fool you
I couldn’t ignore a movie that has a soccer ball on its DVD cover. But Game of Life actually has very little to do with soccer. The story follows 5 families whose 10 year old boys play on a recreational soccer team that keeps losing. But the families don’t interact with each other.
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In ‘Will’ (2011) a child never walks alone
Within the short list of soccer films directed by women, there is a surprising number of Americans who have directed ostensibly British films. Will is just such a case. Americans Ellen Perry (Director) and Zack Anderson (Writer) have created a family film drama around Liverpool FC.
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‘Land of Storms’ (2014) is not very sexy but the football is okay
The easiest way to describe Land of Storms (Viharsarok) is a Hungarian Brokeback Mountain with soccer players. I confess that I watched this movie at 2x speed because of its slow pace and plethora of homophobic violence. There are also a lot of sex scenes and even a 3-way, but the scenes aren’t very sexy.
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An improvised Israeli-Palestine coupling in ‘Strangers’ (2007)
After winning a short film competition at Sundance 2004, Israeli directors Erez Tadmor and Guy Nattiv obtained funding to develop Strangers into a feature length film. Influenced by the Dogme95 au naturel approach to filmmaking, the directors set out without a script, but with 2 actors and 1 camera. The plan was to film from…
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‘Believe’ (2013) is best for adults
Director David Scheinmann extends Believe beyond the well-worn story of motley kids trying to win a tournament. The film pivots on the parallel story of Coach Matt Busby redeeming his survivor’s guilt.
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The reviews deserve to be harsh for ‘Fondi ’91’ (2013)
Fondi ’91 follows a team of 16 year old Jersey boys who travel to the small town of Fondi, Italy in 1991 to play in a soccer tournament. Some of the boys are very randy and keen to hook up with Italian fillies or stallions.
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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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I liked ‘Green Street Hooligans’ (2005) even if Brits did not
After suffering the mindless violence of The Football Factory, I was reluctant to watch Green Street Hooligans. But what a surprise– Hooligans completely sucks you in.
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The rise and fall of Brian Clough in ‘The Damned United’ (2009)
When watching The Damned United, besides Sheen’s performance, I wondered why is this soccer movie so good? Well, it turns out that this BBC film has quite a pedigree behind it: Director Peter Hooper made The King’s Speech. And screenwriter Peter Morgan wrote The Queen, The Last King of Scotland, and Frost/Nixon. Hooper, Morgan, and…
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‘Goal! The Dream Begins’ (2005) soccer movie with a decent budget
First conceived in 2000, the trilogy Goal! was dropped and then restarted production after WC 2002. This first Goal movie was made by 3 Brits in Hollywood who love soccer, and therefore, they try to portray the game realistically and honestly.
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‘United’ (2011) how ManU continued after Munich
United tells the story of the 1958 Munich air disaster involving ManU’s young team known as Busby’s Babes. Trying to take off in a snowstorm, the plane ran out of runway, hit a house, and was torn apart.
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‘Offside’ (2006) – what if women could attend a game in Iran?
In the USA, we take our freedoms for granted, but what if we, as women, were not allowed to enter a stadium? Offside takes place at an actual 2006 World Cup qualifying match in Tehran, where women disguise themselves to get in.
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Review: ‘The Year My Parents Went on Vacation’ (2006)
In the touching drama, The Year My Parents Went on Vacation, 1970 is the year of the triumph of Pelé and one of Brazil’s greatest teams. But “on vacation” is an activist euphemism for going on the lam to avoid arrest and torture by Brazil’s ruling military dictatorship.
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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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‘Montevideo, Taste of a Dream’ (2010) Serbia goes to WC 1930
Vladimir Stanković is a Serbian sports journalist who wrote a “documentary novel” — Montevideo, Bog te video — recounting the tale of the Yugoslavian National Team that went to the 1930 World Cup in Montevideo, Uruguay.
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‘Yesterday’s Hero’ (1979) Football meets Suzanne Somers
Rod Turner (Ian McShane) is Yesterday’s Hero, a former big soccer star and womanizer drinking his way to the end of his career. The pop star owner of the third division Saints signs him for the semi-final game of the League Cup over the protestations of the team Manager.
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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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‘Hermano’ (2010) a dark tale in a Venezuelan barrio
Hermano (aka Brother) is the story of teenage brothers who are unbeatable together on the soccer field and have a chance to tryout for the local pro team.
