Hooligans

Rating: 9/10 (8 September 2005)

Not many people in America are familiar with the nature of professional football. That is, World Cup football, or Professional Soccer. And yet no matter how little we know of it, "Green Street Hooligans" reveals that there are more similarities between the popular worldwide (other than the US) sport and many American sports are harshly recognized.
I had seen the film in its original title, "Hooligans", when it was released at the Tribeca Film Festival in April. Just before the film played, the audience was presented with a short presentation, with a warning by its director, Lexi Alexander (in her directorial debut), that the film portrayed the rivalries between clubs (Football team supporters) were made as realistic as possible, and very accurate. Right off the bat, in the first few minutes of the film, opposing football teams leave from a game, and face off in a bloody, painful fistfight that made me realize none of those involved would go out unscathed. The way the fight was portrayed, I could almost feel every blow to the face and every snap of bone. It was that real, and I honestly felt that Lexi had intended for every shot to be as shocking and as realistic as possible. In that level, she succeeded.
There are about six or seven fight scenes throughout the movie, and in all honesty, I must admit that I anticipated each one. Lexi has proved herself to be fearless, willing to show as much detail into the action as possible, no matter how graphic. The cinematography for the scenes was excellent, putting the audience right into the fray.
Now, as much as I can say about the fight scenes, the story itself was a little limited. The essential plot centers around Matt Buckner (Elijah Wood), a Journalism major (the details are a bit vague, mainly because I have not seen the film for 5 months) who was wrongfully kicked out for drug possession. He could fight back, defend himself and remain in school, but accepts his fate. He thus moves out to England, where his sister (Claire Forlani) dwells with her husband, Steve Dunham (Marc Warren). Steve has a brother named Pete (Charlie Hunnam), and it is he to whom Matt befriends and finds himself entering the very exciting and yet very violent world of football clubs. As expected, Matt begins to change in the course of the film, and he becomes far stronger than the way he was in the beginning of the film, his aggressions tapped and released fight after fight after fight. He gets more bruises, loses some teeth, and so far and so forth.
That is not to say I was bored. No no at all. I'm just saying that the story was not very impressive. It would not have pulled off without the effective performances of its lead actors. Woods has always been a strong performer, capable of holding lead roles ever since he was a child (The War), and of course in the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy. His portrayal of Matt, and the transformation of the character is strong and effective. We feel for Matt, and we also want him to succeed. Claire Forlani is also strong as Shannon, yet I could not help but notice her being pushed slightly aside throughout the film, her role diminished into nothing more as a minor character.
The actor that really pulls off one of the best performances I've seen this year would be no doubt Charlie Hunnam, who plays Pete Dunham. The man is rough, cruel, bloodthirsty, and yet positively likable, and it would not be without Charlie's charisma and effectiveness in portraying Charlie not as purely violent but (dare I say it) actually quite noble. I cannot see anyone else pulling off a better performance, and I hope to see more of Charlie in future lead roles. His performance was remarkable.
"Green Street Hooligans" is a strong debut for Lexi Alexander, even with its shortcomings in terms of the story. Well, actually, that's not true. I did feel some sympathy for Matt, and I definitely cared for the relationships between the lead characters. Charlie and Steve's story is powerful, but the plot line involving Steve and an opposing club leader was brought in so late into the story that I could not help but wonder if the writers had added it in to deliberately add the final, and best, fight scene in the film.
Nevertheless, this is an excellent film, perhaps the best indirectly-sports-related film I've seen in a while. It's definitely one of the top movies I've seen all year so far.