There's Only One Jimmy Grimble

There's Only One Jimmy Grimble, also known as Jimmy Grimble, is a 2000 British sports drama film directed by John Hay, starring Robert Carlyle, Ray Winstone, Lewis McKenzie, Gina McKee, Ben Miller and Samia Ghadie. Set in Greater Manchester Jimmy is a young aspiring footballer who plays for his school team who after receiving a pair of old football boots who once belonged to one of Manchester City's greatest ever players begins to see his skills on the field change.

The movie has become nostalgically linked to Manchester City, with the movie released during the same season City were relegated from the Premier League for a second-time. This coming in the midst of golden era for local rivals Manchester United. The movie's most remembered line is when Jimmy is asked if he would like to sign for United, only for him to tell the United scout that he's had a better offer. "What could be better than Man United, son?" the scout asks, only for Jimmy to reply "Man City".

Plot
Jimmy (Lewis McKenzie) is a shy teenager living in Oldham, Greater Manchester and being raised by his single mother Donna (Gina McKee). Like most Mancunians, Jimmy loves football and is a big fan of Manchester City. He finds school troubling and is often being bullied by popular kids and staunch Manchester United fans "Gorgeous" Gordon Burley (Bobby Power) and Psycho (Ciarán Griffiths). Jimmy joins the school football team coached by Eric Wirral (Robert Carlyle) who cares very little about the success of the team and is undermined by Gordon and his father Ken (John Henshaw), who constantly boasts he is a former professional player with Crewe Alexandra.

Jimmy is occasionally accompanied by school friend and love interest Sara (Samia Ghadie) and befriends Alice (Jane Lapotaire) an old homeless woman living in derelict housing that it marked for demolition, Alice gives Jimmy a pair of old football boots that she claims once belonged to Robbie Brewer who she alleges used to play for City. Alice explains that the boots are magic but although Jimmy accepts the gift he is sceptical and places them in a rubbish skip on his way home. The bullying and torment continues when Gordon steals Jimmy's boots and launches them into a passing bin truck in an attempt to prevent him playing for the team, however Jimmy manages to retrieve the old boots from the skip in time for his first game in the Manchester School's Cup away against Wreckingham. In a bad tampered game on a waterlogged muddy field, Jimmy comes on as a substitute and scores a goal from his own half with his first touch of the ball. Believing the boots are really magic, his confidence begins to grow and he quickly begins to shine as the team's brightest player, out performing a frustrated Gordon who had previously been viewed as the teams best player.

Desperate to uncover whether Robbie Brewer actually played for City, a club security steward points him in the direction of a house next to Maine Road which turns out to be Mr Wirral's home. Jimmy finds out that his teacher was a former City player himself and had once scored a hattrick against United but is struggling to find is passion for the sport following his retirement as a player, and had kept playing career exploits quiet at school. Jimmy's performances begin to win round the likes of Psycho and other members of the team, however the Headmaster (John McArdle) concerned of the upcoming opponents tells Mr Wirral to let Ken take charge of the team. Ken berates the team in the first half with his only tactic being to "pass it to Gordon". At half time Mr Wirral is revealed to be a former City player in front of the team by the opposition coach who recognises him as the player who scored a hattrick past him when he was a United goalkeeper, leading to the team to reject Ken as their coach. Inspired by this a revitalised Mr Wirrall oversees a better second half with the team going on to win the game.

Away from school, Jimmy is struggling to come to terms with his mothers decision to date her new boyfriend Johnny Two Dogs (Ben Miller), an arrogant motorcycle rider who tries to pass himself off as a martial arts expert. Jimmy occasionally bumps into Harry (Ray Winstone) his Mum's former partner who he had a good relationship, but struggles to come to terms with how their relationship ended. Donna forces Johnny to make an effort with Jimmy and insists he takes him to a City game (as Harry did regularly), however Johnny who is not a football fan, gets into an altercation with a hooligan in the pub before the game, Johnny's reaction shows Jimmy that he isn't the hard man that he wants him to believe.

On his way to invite Alice to the final, Jimmy notices demolition has begun on the row of houses where she is squatting, he manages to halt the workmen but after searching for Alice he finds she has finds that she had frozen to death outside. With their relationship starting to fray Donna decides to not travel to the game with Johnny, but on realising he has taken her money she returns to the flat to find her with another girl. Ahead of the game and with the prospect of Jimmy taking the limelight away from Gordon in front of the Manchester United scout, Ken threatens to cancel his funding of a new sports hall roof in order to force the headmaster into leaving Jimmy on the substitute bench, the team however refuse to play without Jimmy. Gordon once again tries to disrupt Jimmy by stealing his boots before throwing them into the canal. Jimmy is now convinced that he has lost his magic touch and despite receiving new boots from the club shop he plays poorly in the first half with the team 2-0 down.

Quick to find a resolution, Harry takes Jimmy to meet a blind programme seller at half time who is revealed to be Robbie Brewer, Robbie confirms that he never actually played for City but he was selected to be a club mascot and that the boots were given to him that day as a gift by Alice who is revealed to be his mother. Now convinced it was his own skills all along, Jimmy emerges from the tunnel for the second half and quickly scores a goal to make it 2–1. He then assists Gordon for the equaliser before retrieving the ball in his own half and taking the ball down field before stopping on the edge of the penalty box. With the option of scoring and taking glory for himself, he chooses to play the ball into the box by kicking it really hard into Gordon's face which knocks him over but results in the winning goal. Donna and Harry reconcile in the crowd as Jimmy is carried off the field a hero.

In the tunnel Ken is trying to convince the United scout to sign Gordon, however he turns to Jimmy and asks him how would he like to sign for Manchester United? Jimmy declines and tells him Mr Wirral informs him that he has had a better offer, the scout asks what could be better than Man United? he replies "Man City". Despite the refusal the scout rebuffs Ken and Gordon and offers the place to the teams goalkeeper. Jimmy meets up with Sara in the tunnel and kisses her before the team celebrate their win on the field with Mr Wirral.

Cast

Filming

The movie was filmed in Greater Manchester in 1999, with the final game being shot in Manchester City's former stadium Maine Road. Other prime locations shot were Oldham Hulme Grammar School and Scarisbrick Hall School.

Release
The film was released in the United Kingdom on 25 August 2000, and also received screenings at the Berlin International Film Festival on 9 February 2001 and the Kristiansand International Children's Film Festival on 3 May 2001. Later that year it was also released at two more international festivals with showings at Film Fest Ghent and Cinéfest Sudbury International Film Festival.

Critical response

Reception
The movie at the time of release gained an indifferent reception from critics.

Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported an approval rating of 71% based on 7 reviews, with an average rating of 6.9/10. Michael Thompson of BBC.com scored it 4/5. IMDb score the film at 6.6/10.

Move critic Keith Hennessey-Brown, writing for Eye For Film wrote "With a plot taken straight from the old comic strip Billy's Boots - albeit given a more realistic spin - I expected this film to seriously suck. Yet I came away thinking it was actually quite good. Yes, it's entirely predictable and done in a check-off-the-cliches way - the underdog has his day, justice is done as the good guys are rewarded and the bad guys punished, etc, etc - but it just plain works. Youngster Lewis McKenzie, who plays Grimble, looks like a real find. Robert Carlyle, Ray Winstone and Gina McKee are a pleasure to watch, as always, as the flawed adults who surround him. It's especially nice to see Winstone cast somewhat against type - this may be the only film he's been in where he doesn't do his violent outburst thing. Complete with a soundtrack of predominantly Manchester bands, there's Only One Jimmy Grimble is an effective feel-good film that successfully accomplishes what it sets out to."

Awards and nominations
The film won three awards, the first coming at the Berlin Film Festival where it won the Best Feature film in the Silver Bear category. At the Giffoni Film Festival it won the Golden Gryphon Free to Fly award, with a further award for the Golden Poznan Goat coming at the Ale Kino! International Young Audience Film Festival. Lewis McKenzie was also nominated for the best newcomer at the British Independent Film Awards.

Legacy
In 2018 Football magazine FourFourTwo placed the movie as the 7th of 14 on the best football movies ever. A poll in the same year by SPORTbible asked it's readers to vote for their favourite football films, with the movie placing again in 7th place with 1,456 votes.

The movie has become nostalgically linked to Manchester City, with the movie released during the same season City were relegated from the Premier League for a second-time. This coming in the midst of golden era for local rivals Manchester United with Gordon's bullying of Jimmy in the movie mimicking the difference in class between the two football clubs at the time. The movie's most famous line is when Jimmy is asked if he would like to sign for United, only for him to tell the United scout that he's had a better offer. "What could be better than Man United, son?" the scout asks, only for Jimmy to reply "Man City". Ironically Lewis McKenzie who delivered that line and played Jimmy, is himself actually a Manchester United supporter, whereas United bully Gordon played by Bobby Power and his father John Henshaw are real life City supporters.

See also
 Billy's Boots
 List of association football films

References

External links
 
 
 Review at BBC Films
 Tom Fogg, There's Only One Jimmy Grimble, at FilmFestivals.com
 Jimmy Grimble, Le Stuff Journal
 Jim White, There's Only One Jimmy Grimble, from Sight & Sound, September 2000

2000 films
2000s sports comedy films
British association football films
British sports comedy films
Films set in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham
Manchester City F.C.
Films shot in Greater Manchester
Films shot in Lancashire
Adultery in films
2000 comedy films
2000s English-language films
2000s British films