Decent Enough, But Very Flawed

Rating: 6/10 (16 October 2005)

I admit, soccer hooliganism interests me. English football interests me as well, but not as much as this "firm" subculture. So when I saw that they had done a movie about West Ham's ICP, I was interested. However, the problem is, that English soccer and even the hooliganism had to play second fiddle to a rather formulaic story. And the story is very formulaic, with hidden secrets, plot twists, predictable conflicts, etc.. It really seemed like the storyline was so interchangeable, that they could have had any sport or form of entertainment to revolve around. Moreover, the acceptance of Elijah Wood into that group strained all credibility. One of the other problems was how the story had to dumb down "soccer" in almost every scene. Treating audience members like they did not even know what a soccer ball is, much less Man U. No, it was a decent enough movie, but the potential for a much better film was there, perhaps if they had used a more experienced director and a better lead.