One of the best movies of the year ****(out of five)

Rating: 8/10 (28 October 2005)

Elijah Wood is fast becoming one of America's bravest actors. Many felt that after playing Frodo Baggins in The Lord of the Rings trilogy that he may do a Mark Hamil and disappear. On the contrary though he has instead made eclectic choices ( a mute cannibal in the excellent Sin City and a football hooligan in this) as not to be typecast and next he will be seen in the Liev Scriebher directed Everything is Illuminated, another brave choice. And while Wood is excellent here his co-star Charlie Hunman steals the show as hard-hitting football hooligan Pete. His energy and naturalistic stile are superb. A real talent. The film as a whole is one of the best of the year. A gritty, very well written take on a controversial subject. First-time director Lexi Alexander dosen't tiptoe around the subject either not afraid to show while this is a disgraceful activity it does have plus points for the thugs involved and it shows how easy it could be for a normal person to get caught up in this violence. Extremely good. **** (out of five)