Mixed emotions

Rating: 5/10 (6 December 2011)

Providing a pragmatic analysis of this movie is difficult, since conclusions may vary depending which aspect of the movie you focus in: the plot (and its sociological aspects) or the movie itself.
When it comes to the movie itself, it delivers. Performances are solid, times are properly managed, stunts are well done, good costume design. The plot is in some way weak, since it is unoriginal (a guy suffered an injustice, leaves his comfort zone and finds something that will help him redeem himself and grow stronger... similar to "Scent of a Woman" in some aspects).
But I can't help to think about the social aspect of the movie. First of all, hooliganism is presented in a mild way, characters are "bad" but not as bad as in real life. I mean, come on guys, UK government had to take deep measures to stop hooligans in their own country, since they were unstoppable.
Secondly, the movie tries to present a "romantic" aspect of hooliganism: companionship, group cohesion, team spirit and respect. The truth is that Hooligans are a bunch of brainless retards incapable of fitting in a normal society, rebel enough to "make their own rules" and cowards enough to avoid acting as individuals (or for the case, using their punching skills in licenced boxing). In my opinion, this is a flaw. Hooligans could have been a raw movie that depicted the cruelty and wilderness of this underworld.
Thirdly, in my home country we suffer the local variety of "hooligans", which are known as "barrabravas". They are the scum of society, involved in drug trafficking, ticket reselling, extortion, GTA, murder, thievery and many of them have strong bonds with local politicians from the most corrupt political party in Argentina's history: the Peronism (Partido Justicialista). For this reason, even when I may feel some "empathy" with the main characters of the movie, I couldn't stop thinking how stupid is to fight a person based on the fact that he likes another football team, and the fact that the characters are plain thugs. If killing someone is an act of savagery, killing a person because he likes a rival team is retarded.