Beautiful, beautiful film

Rating: 9/10 (20 December 2007)

First off, my "credentials": I am not a soccer fanatic and I've never even seen a "hooligan" in real life. I'm just a typical American who has played soccer once or twice for fun, and that's about it. I'm as far removed from even the most average of European football fans.
Let me also add: I almost never post a comment on here unless I absolutely DESPISED a film. If I enjoyed a movie, I like to savor that feeling for myself. But if I hated it, I vent it here and warn others to stay away. I figure it's the least I can do.
Now that we have that out of the way, let me tell you what I thought of the film based on its *own* merits. Not how I compare it to "real life" (after all, as someone said, this is a movie, not a documentary), not how I view it via my biased experienced with whatever football-related history I may have experienced or learned about, etc.
This is one beautiful movie! It's so well-written, the subject matter becomes almost irrelevant. When all the mechanics of great film-making are combined in such a successful manner, a viewer can't help but be engrossed and moved by the happenings on screen.
I'm sure you are familiar with the synopsis, but if not, Elijah Wood gets wrongfully kicked out of Harvard (typical "victim of circumstance must back out to protect rich politician's guilty son" theme) and goes to England to visit his sister, who is married to a Brit. The husband is the responsible, upstanding type. However, when Wood meets the husband's younger brother -- the leader of a football gang, or "firm" -- one things leads to another and he becomes inducted into the world of violent hooliganism.
That's the plot in a nutshell, but there's more to it than that. So much more. The characters are all very well put together. No one in the film is a hero, not even Wood. But for me, what makes this film truly great is that there is not a single villain or antagonist in the movie for whom you do not, by film's end, feel at least some degree of sympathy.
You are left turning over the characters' different points of view in your mind until, finally, you come to the conclusion that your initial reaction of anger or indignation is pointless. Why? Because you realize the past events in each character's life have always been leading up to exactly what they got in the end. No matter how it pierces you in the gut, there was no other possible turn-out.
Or was there? I suppose in hindsight we can all say things "could've been different." But that's wisdom attained too late.
I wish I could say more. A lot more. But that would really give away the plot. So I'll just point out a few specifics I found particularly impressive.
Wood is perfectly cast here. A spineless weakling who has spent his entire life in the cushy world of academia. There is a point by the middle of the film where you see him walking down the streets of London, long after he's been introduced to the "hooligan" lifestyle, and the look in his eyes is *wild*. It's angry. Those few seconds alone speak more about Wood's character than all scenes combined.
Wood's brother in law -- the older, upstanding citizen type -- has a haunting past. Who he is, you would never guess (unless you're one of those irritating people who think it's their job to "outsmart" a film instead of enjoy it). When he is revealed, it's just... so fitting. It's perfect. The events that follow are truly fateful.
The brother in law's younger brother -- the one whom Wood befriends, and who in turn inducts Wood into the "firm" -- is, well... cool. Walks with a swagger, leads the gang, and fears nothing. While his brother had to face his past, this character is trudging headlong into a not all too unpredictable future.
The film is effective, it is moving, it is *heartbreaking* and, at the same time, uplifting. It is one of the best films I've ever seen.
Watch it.
PS. Eight stars for the films silly, albeit momentary, portrayal of the *actual* sport of football being some physically hazardous activity where people regularly get their noses broken by flying feet. It is possible someone tries to do a high kick on a ball while another player tries to head it, and the latter gets hit in the nose, but the film obviously made it seem like this was some kind of run of the mill injury. Rubbish.