Surprisingly good

Rating: 8/10 (4 July 2006)

Seemingly being a Hollywood take on hooliganism, I really expected this movie to be appalling. Which it wasn't. I actually find it on nearly on par with I.D. and better than Football Factory, two British movies on the same subject.
Fighting, gangs, glorification of violence, black and white thinking, good vs. evil - not exactly typical US values. Well, at least not Eliah Wood's character's values. As he travels to England, he's introduced to West Ham United's hooligan firm, and guess what happens next.
One could wish for less "cool" action music and trendy visual effects, as excessive genuine supporter/hooligan atmosphere in itself proved more effective in the aforementioned movie I.D. Still, there are enough realistic hooligan scenes and chanting to give a rather realistic flavour of the environment.
Still, European viewers familiar with this culture will have to bear over with some scenes that rather obviously are meant for the American public. Also, I'm not sure if this movie really is representative for the firms as of today. In addition, the thugs seemed to be portrayed rather awkwardly at least in the beginning of the film, but the movie eventually sucked me in and made me forgive any shortcomings. Excellent and recommended.