Appears to be written for an American audience

Rating: 2/10 (20 November 2006)

From the outset i was suspicious of this film; how exactly can Elijah Wood be expected to play a football thug? He has after all been typecast somewhat to the wimpish character of many of his recent films (Eternal Sunshine, LOTR). The opening scenes confirmed my suspicions. Without telling too much, there's violence and someone is head-butted into a phone box (a classic red one no less) which promptly falls over. Obviously realism was not of a worry for this film. From that point on the film only gets worse. Its not that the acting is terrible (though there are a few suspicious mockney accents in there), but the fact that a large degree of realism is required to broach a subject such as football violence and none is forthcoming. This film attempts to explain hooliganism with a need for comradeship and pride mixed in with the thrill of violence. This, as anyone who has real experience with hooliganism knows, is not the motivation for hooligans. There are no redeeming qualities to them and it is wrong to portray them as anything but violent criminals who obviously have issues. If you are looking to see a film about football violence that reflects real life and which you can take some degree of understanding of the people behind it then this is not a film for you. The Football Factory is a much more superior film and has the intelligence to not try to include a moral in the story, a mistake which was the yet another shortcoming in this film.