An American in England

Rating: 7/10 (10 June 2010)

After getting kicked out of school for a drug offense that he didn't commit, a young journalist (Elijah Wood) goes to England to visit his sister (Claire Forlani) and her husband. Soon, he gets sucked into football (Soccer) culture and joins a firm (basically a gang)... which leads to violence and possible death. But worse yet, his own crew hates journalists, so if they find his secret, he's a dead man anyway.
Before I saw this film, I didn't know anything about it, and feared it was a soccer film. Not that a soccer film would be bad, but I'm not a sports person. Yet, there's pretty much no soccer in here at all -- maybe not even five minutes. The focus is more on family ties, family legacies and rivalries that are based on pride rather than substance. Despite Elijah Wood being a generally weak actor, this works well.
That's really all I want to say about that. The film is worth watching... lots of conflict, emotions and violence. And I would say that for the most part, it explores themes and situations that are largely new and untouched. That's hard to say about many films, but this one is one of a kind.