Category: Drama
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‘Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal’ (2007) British Hindu issues
In Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal, a South Asian community in England has a struggling semi-pro football team. They need to win the league or the stadium will be sold for redevelopment. Sadly, their star is enticed to play for their better all-white rivals. But the star player encounters racism on his new team. He returns to his…
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‘Garrincha, Lonely Star’ (2003) wasn’t all that lonely
Manuel Francisco dos Santos, commonly known as Mané Garrincha, was second only to Pelé as one of Brazil’s greatest players. Garrincha – Estrela Solitária is a docudrama that shows his dribbling flair on the field and his sexual exploits.
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‘A Shot at Glory’ (2000) largely misses
A Shot at Glory starts off with a bit of fun — the ashes of a long time fan are poured onto the Kilnockie stadium turf so that he can “be with the lads”. It’s during practice, and as the team distractedly stands in respect, they juggle the ball from one to another down the…
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‘Those Glory Glory Days’ (1983) Tottenham Spurs a first love
A sports nut since childhood, Julie Welch was the first female soccer sports writer on Fleet Street. She was asked to write a screenplay for a British television series that would capture the passions of first love.
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Why do so many like the Stallone movie ‘Victory’ (1981) ?
It’s sad that many think Victory is the iconic American soccer movie, because this movie is pretty ordinary and has aged poorly. Victory is a World War Two POW movie that pays heavy homage to The Great Escape; the POWs escape while playing against the Nazis.
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Well done but little soccer in ‘The Boys in Company C’ (1978)
The Boys in Company C was one of the first films to portray the senselessness of the Vietnam War. It’s a war movie and not a soccer movie by any means. But, to borrow a phrase from Susan Jeffords, this film asks if a soccer game is a “thing worth dying for”.
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A young footballing Gary Oldman in ‘The Firm’ (1989)
The Firm was an episode of a BBC TV series in 1989. A young 30ish Gary Oldman stars as Bexie — a middle class father, real estate agent, weekend soccer player, and the boss of a hooligan gang.
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‘Heleno’ (2011) an art film mostly off the pitch
Information about Brazilian great Heleno De Freitas is scanty when compared to Garrincha or Pelé. He was born in 1920 and predated Brazil’s success on the world stage. Heleno won no trophies for his club Botafogo, he played in no World Cups, and so there is no film of his play.
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‘Peloteros’ (2006) a family-unfriendly macho mess
While the DVD title is Street Soccer, Peloteros means ball players, or in this context, footballers. The movie is a coming of age summer tale of six boys in a poor Peruvian neighborhood who enter a tournament to compete against older and semi-pro players.
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‘The Football Factory’ (2004) makes war without weapons
I almost never watch war movies or dramas, but watching the 2004 British movie The Football Factory was like watching a war movie without weapons.
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‘Kick ‘N Rush’ (2003) egregious coming of age tale
I know I’m in for a bad night when a movie starts off with a masturbation scene. Kick ‘N Rush keeps moving very very slowly down that path and doesn’t get any better.
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‘A Major Inconvenience’ (1999) is not a frothy cougar film
A Major Inconvenience follows virginal young Frenchman Laurent, who puts all his energy into soccer. He has a chance to join the pros and thereby elevate his family from their welfare-level existence. But his focus is waylaid by an affair with the mother of the opponent who broke his nose.
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‘Eleven Men Out’ (2005) is not like Iceland at all
Eleven Men Out is not really a soccer movie. It has 30 seconds of soccer and a lot of sexuality, mostly gay (rated R). As a character says, there is not much else to do in Iceland. A top player comes out of the closet, switches to a team that has some gays, the straights…
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‘Personal Sergeant’ (2004) is so wrong
Personal Sergeant is neither a soccer story nor a movie for your kids. A crusty Korean War veteran Marine is forced to babysit his 11 year old granddaughter. They slowly bond while he trains her to play with the high school JV soccer team. In the end, she and her “pussy” father (as the Marine…
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‘When Beckham Met Owen’ (2004) exploitative at best
The filmmakers for this movie deceptively use the names of David Beckham and Michael Owen to attract attention. Because When Beckham Met Owen has no story of its own to draw viewers.
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‘Barras Bravas’ (2004) Chilean West Side Story in a car
Barras Bravas (originally titled Azul y Blanco) is a very low budget Chilean spin on West Side Story — but without music, soccer, or any entertainment value. Two rival gangs, who belong to different supporters groups (barras bravas), drive around looking for each other and their two star-crossed lovers so they can have knife fights…
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‘Historias de Fútbol’ (1997) is soccer Babel
Soccer Stories, or Historias de Fútbol, consists of 3 short stories set in Chile, but none of them are worth your time.