This Film should have been called "Gangs of London"

Rating: Null/10 (8 October 2004)

The Football Factory, more like Gangs of Chelsea. I honestly thought I was going to get a typical British film out of Football Factory and I did, but I got more than I thought I would. I don't know much of Nick Love and the same goes for Danny Dyer and after this, I can't wait to see more of them as they brought this film to life in a complete original fashion, for British movies definitely.
We follow Tommy, Rod, Zeberdee, Harris and Billy Bright through their weekdays work and their weekends of football and fighting, this is their life and they would never change it for anyone, not even their families.
They support Chelsea but don't live for the game, only the battles afterwards. What Nick Love brings to the table is a not a film about football hooligans but about choices in life. Throughout Tommy is having nightmares about being beaten by a dozen hooligans and being left for dead for a boy with a white bandage covering his face to turn up and haunt Tommy even more. He believes the drugs he takes are the only reason for these mad dreams instead of them being a wake up call to change his ways before its to late but soon after he gets a gut feeling that its more than that. This is what Love brings to the movie, a dark deep look into the world that these kind of people live in. This is the kind of movie which makes you scared to go into a London pub or any that hails a football team in case you get your head kicked in or if you do, keep your head down. It's very scary to how much a movie can do things like that to you because this is how I felt after watching this movie which is why I love The football factory cause its great when a film like this can do that to you. Some cliché Guy Ritchie moments seem to appear a lot in the film but with it being based in London what am I to expect but Danny Dyer is something else as far as new fresh British talent goes. He fit's the part as Tommy perfectly and gives a more real performance than anything I have seen since Ewan McGregor in Trainspotting and this should be the film that sends Danny Dyer on his way. Everyone else was also on fine performance as was Dudley Sutton as Bill, the aging old veteran coming to terms with his age but living each day to the full.
The music plays out great in every scene like something out of Goodfellas and with acting and fantastic direction from Nick Love there is no way you are going to dislike this film because it tells the harsh truth about what football hooligans are really like and what they stand for. You can compare this to I.D and not wanting to take anything away from I.D as it was a great film with great acting, football Factory has the edge on it and plays out beautifully. If you love British films football Factory is for you. If you like gang films football Factory is for you. If you like dark films then football Factory is your film. Overall Football Factory is an outstanding achievement that should put Britain back on the map for making great films.