nick love's adaptation of the Football Factory

Rating: Null/10 (16 May 2004)

Forget the hype, Nick Love's adaptation of the Football Factory is a grave disappointment. As is usual with these projects, bits have been added on and/or poached from other novels in the series, presumably to add some narrative coherence to the story. This tactic dilutes the power of the novel, which put simply, is the disaffection of the English male. The film does not tackle the issue of why these men fight, in the book its crystal clear. The film is lightweight, eyecandy for those who enjoy celluloid violence and cartoon characterisations. An injustice to a thoughtful and thought provoking novel on what it means to be English and male.
On the plus side Danny Dyer is excellent as Tommy Johnson. The opening scene 'Tottenham away' is very well done but then the film runs out of ideas. Too much is introduced too quickly - the rivalry between Harris and Billy, the old men, Zebedee, Tommy's new enemies, the impending trip to Milwall - all of this is introduced to take us on a standard movie journey. But its all a great big cliché.
The greatest thing from the book - the hooligans anger at society, his behavior and language - have been watered down to make Tommy seem like a nice guy. But Tommy shouldn't be a nice guy, Tommy lives for the weekend, the chance to get p***ed, stoned, laid and the greatest rush of all, the adrenaline that comes from fighting. Thats the heart of the book, but as usual the film maker conspires to cheat us with clichés. Read the book, avoid the film.