Bend It Like Beckham
Tags: thought-provoking, cute, queer, feel-good, romantic, entertaining, sentimental

Plot synopsis:
Jesminder "Jess" Bhamra (Parminder Nagra) is the 18-year-old daughter of Punjabi Sikhs living in Hounslow, London. Juliette "Jules" Paxton (Keira Knightley) is the same age and the daughter of a native English family. Jess is infatuated with football, but because she's a woman, her family won't let her play. However, she sometimes plays in the park with boys including her best friend, Tony (Ameet Chana), a closet homosexual.
Whilst on a jog through the park, Jules discovers Jess's skills, befriends her, and invites her to try out for the local women's football team, the Hounslow Harriers coached by Joe (Jonathan Rhys Meyers). Jess is extremely happy and excited about the tryouts, even though Joe is skeptical about a new player joining the team. After seeing Jess's skills, Joe accepts her on the team and Jess lies to Joe about her parents being cool with the idea.
Her parents eventually discover that Jess has been playing football behind their backs, Jess's parents (Anupam Kher and Shaheen Khan) become more strict and forbid Jess from playing any more matches. The elder Bhamras are also distracted by their elaborate wedding plans for Jess's older sister, Pinky (Archie Panjabi). Thanks to Jess and Jules's skills, the Harriers reach the finals of the league tournament. Unfortunately, the final and Pinky's wedding are on the same day.
Joe pleads with Mr. Bhamra to allow Jess to play, but Mr. Bhamra refuses, revealing that he doesn't want Jess to suffer the same way he did when he was kicked out of the cricket club because of him being Indian. Jess develops an attraction toward Joe, and when the team plays in Hamburg, Germany and goes out clubbing, they're caught about to kiss by Jules, who also has a crush on Joe, souring Jess and Jules's friendship, as Jules is adamant she'd told Jess about her crush. When Jess goes to Jules's house to try to patch up their friendship, Jules's mother (Juliet Stevenson) is misled and thinks they're hiding a lesbian relationship.
Joe accepts that Jess isn't allowed to play, and the final begins without her. But halfway through Pinky's wedding, Tony convinces Mr. Bhamra to let Jess go. He agrees, and Tony drives Jess to the game, where the Harriers are losing 1–0 with half an hour left. Jess and Jules tie the score, and when Jess is awarded a free kick, she must bend the ball around the wall of players to score. She succeeds and the Harriers win the tournament. Jess and Jules are offered scholarships at Santa Clara University in California, which Jules tells her parents immediately, whereas Jess has trouble telling hers. Jules and her mother arrive at the wedding so that Jules can celebrate with Jess. When Mrs. Paxton accuses Jess of being a hypocrite and a lesbian, Jules grabs her mother and runs off in shame.
Jess still hasn't told her parents about the scholarship. Tony decides to lie to the family and tells them he's engaged to Jess as long as she gets to go to any college she wants. Jess reveals the lie and her mother blames Jess's father for allowing her to play. Jess's father convinces her mother to accept Jess's wishes after telling her he doesn't want Jess suffering as he did. Jess flees to the football field to tell Joe of her parents' decision. The two almost kiss, but Jess pulls away, saying her parents would object, and that although they had come far enough to let her go to America to play, she doesn't think they would be able to handle another cultural rebellion from her.
On the day of Jess and Jules's flight, Jules's mother gives her daughter a football jersey and wishes her good luck. The two are about to board the plane when Joe arrives and confesses his love for Jess. The two kiss and Jess agrees to sort out their relationship (and her parents) when she returns for Christmas. While at the airport, they see David Beckham with his wife Victoria, which Jules takes as a sign. Jess and Jules send their parents a team photograph, and it is revealed that Pinky is pregnant. Mr. Bhamra practices cricket with Joe's help.

Review: As with all such tales, it is the young folk who feel the need to pull away from the stuffy values of the past, and who end up dragging the reluctant older folk kicking and screaming into the future right along with them.Jess Bharma is a fairly typical teen with dreams of becoming a world-class soccer player.
She receives superb support from a cast of outstanding actors, both young and old, including Keira Knightley as Jules, her inspirational buddy who provides Jess with the opportunity to bring her dreams to fruition; Jonathan Rhys-Meyers as Joe, the handsome young coach who provides lessons in love along with lessons in soccer; Anupam Kher as Jess' father, who turns out to have some of his own personal demons to deal with; Shaheen Khan as Jess' mother, who doesn't understand why her daughter can't be content with the pre-ordained life her parents have laid out for her; and Juliet Stevenson as Jules' mother, who proves that Indians don't hold a patent on tradition-obsessed parents.
In its quiet, gentle way, the film also confronts the issue of racism, particularly in terms of how the Indians are often still treated as second-class citizens in British society.As directed by Gurinder Chadha, `Bend It Like Beckham' is a light-on-its-feet `feel-good' film that never takes itself too seriously.
Jess is 18, very smart and wants nothing more than to play football, when she joins a local team she has to lie to her parents again and again, as they would never approve of her chasing her dream, they want her to settle down with a nice Indian boy and learn how to cook.Bend it Like Beckham is a very funny feel good movie that doesn't need to be deep and complex, it's just fine as it is.
The cast are all very good and they play their roles very well, the story is simple and predictable, but it works perfectly and the script is very realistic and very funny.A great Family movie 8/10.
It's also very true to life for the most part for that culture so if you want to sit down and watch a movie that you can enjoy and feel good about when you're finished.
The setting of transplanted Indian-ness makes it feel like one of Mira Nair's films - `Monsoon Wedding' or `Mississippi Masala.'  There's also quite a bit of youthful, flippant, foul-mouthed, blue-collar London impertinence going on - an episode of `Eastenders,' perhaps.And yet to dismiss the movie with this quick sketch and a few references would do it a terrible injustice.
Go see it to watch her, even if the subject matter isn't your thing.It is perhaps not a great movie, but it's one that will, due to its sheer quirkiness and great heart, likely find its way onto the `favorites' shelves of many, and not just young girls aspiring to make it big and become soccer stars.
Anglo-Indian Jesminder Bhamra (Parminder Nagra) and her WASP friend Juliette Paxton (Keira Knightley) love to play football (yes, I'm going to say it the British - and international - way) and just adore football player David Beckham.
But seriously, even though no plot "twist" in this movie comes as a surprise, it's smartly written, full of entertaining little touches (especially concerning the main character's Panjabi family and their social circle) and thoroughly enjoyable.
Outside the house, in school or public places, she is a typical teenager -- except that she wants to be a professional football ("soccer") player(the film opens with Jess daydreaming that she takes a pass from Manchester United's soccer superstar, David "Bend It Like BECKHAM," and scores on a header.Jess is befriended by Juliette "Jules" Paxton (Keira Knightly), who invites her to join a local girls soccer team.
Without fanfare, this is the film's key event that opens all doors and windows -- as Jules' family is drawn into the cultural mix -- wherein WE begin to understand the film's point of view.The relationship between Jess and Jules is not presented as an example of cultural differences, but more as teenagers of one mind -- the two are more like each other at this age, than they are like their respective parents -- they enjoy boys (both have crush on the coach), shopping, sports, rock music and whatever young girls do and talk about.
Sure, there were charming moments, like the Babaji thing and many other Indian-vs-British things, Jules' mother was hilarious, and Parminder Nagra was acting convincingly, but that was it.The story was utterly predictable and ALWAYS followed the clichés.
When Juliette (Keira Knightly) sees her playing soccer with the guys in the park one afternoon, she invites Jess to try out for the team coached by Joe (Jonathan Rhys-Meyers).
Keira Knightly is equally as good as Jess's friend and her love for the game also causes a clash with her Mother, Paula (Juliet Stevenson), who believes her daughter should be out finding a man instead of wasting her female assets on the soccer field.
Story is set in London and an 18 year old girl who is a Sikh is very good at soccer but her parents are old fashioned and don't think their daughter should waste her time with such nonsense and instead concentrate on her sisters upcoming marriage and her own future as well.
It's definitely a 'feel-good' movie and you're pretty sure after the opening scene exactly how things are going to turn out, but the journey to the foreseen conclusion is pretty fun.A lot has been made of the Sikh angle, but I think a lot of people miss the sly parallel woven throughout the story.The movie focuses on Jes, a talented soccer player, younger daughter of a mostly traditional Sikh family living in England.
She, too, has a talent for soccer...and is defying her mother's expectations and notions of 'proper' behavior and goals for a young Anglo girl.That parallel is what elevates "Bend It Like Beckham" from hundreds of other movies of the same formula.
Wonderful sleeper indie smash culture clash comedy about a precocious and vigorously talented soccer playing teenage Indian girl (Nagra in a winning big screen debut) who is torn between her passion for excelling on the field over her strict and overbearing family.
Parminder Nagra wants to "Bend it Like Beckham" in this 2002 film also starring Keira Knightley and Jonathan Rhys-Meyers.
Set it England, Nagra is Jesminder, nicknamed "Jess" who loves to play soccer and is recruited into a women's team by a fellow player Jules (Keira Knightley).
There, she meets the team's coach, Joe (Rhys-Meyers) on whom Jules has a crush.But playing soccer is at odds with Jesminder's traditional Indian family, so she is constantly lying and sneaking out of the house.
When her sister's wedding falls on the day of their big tournament where a talent scout from America will be present, Jess is forced to make a decision.This is a really lovely film with many warm and funny moments and situations.
A very funny performance by Juliet Stevenson as Jules' mother."Bend it Like Beckham" covers a lot of ground - compromising your dreams, going after your dreams, prejudice, looking butch, and the perception of women in Indian vs.
On the other hand, Gurinder's tendency to give the actors a long leash ended up bringing in the parallels between the discrimination Parminder's character faced as an Indian & Sikh & those her coach must have faced as an Irishman in England as well as a more personal side of Parminder as she explains how she ended up with the horrific RL burn on her thigh which adds depth to her character and draws the viewer closer to the actress and overall story.It was fun to see that the actors, crew & Gurinder's family had fun on the project but it's not a film I feel overly compelled to watch again..
Incidentally, whenever I talk about football, I refer to soccer in case any US readers get confused.Parminder "ER" Nagra plays Jess, a rebellious daughter in a strict Indian family living in London.
The fact that the hero in "Bend It Like Beckham" is a cute Indian girl instead of a sixty-year-old meat head means that this is not your typical sports movie.
It tells of a young British Indian Sikh, Jesminder Bhamra, who struggles against her families' tradition to full fill her dream of playing professional football.
Unlike a conventional Indian girl, who learns to cook the traditional Indian dishes and get married to a nice young Indian man like Jess' sister Pinky, Jess aspires to achieve the success of her idol, football star David Beckham.
The movie "Bend it like Beckham" by Gurinda Chadha made in 2002 deals with the conflict between cultures and conflicts between generations, but it's also a comedy and romance.The main character Jesminder "Jess" Bhamra (Parminder K.
In a good movie should not be missing a love story, so there is the young handsome Joe (Jonathan Rhys-Meyers), the soccer coach of Jess.
Jules also has the problem that her mother wants her to be the demure girl who cares about nothing but how they look or who their latest snog was.The fact that I was fairly apathetic about it just added to the delight I felt when I was watching it.It's a great movie, one of those that you walk away from feeling light and refreshed, like "Amelie" or "Playing By Heart".It's got its own quirky humour, that mainly shows itself through Jess's family dealing with her unorthodox hobby, but the highlight of the movie is Jules' mother, expertly played by Juliet Stevenson who also made me laugh as Mrs. Elton in "Emma".If you haven't seen it, no matter what you feel about football (or soccer, whatever term you prefer) see this movie sometime soon.
regrettably anything above the x-men rank of flash glitz and violent fantasy reaches beyond the intellect of the pedestrian american audiencethis is an honest coming of age movie set in england with young indian immigrants trying to walk a thin line between their parent's ways and the freedom of the host cultureand the collision is on the field of sport -- much local color -- excellent social commentary in perfected sub-plots -- don't take my word see the flick -- well worth seeing.
The film is about an Indian girl named 'Jess' played by Parminder K.
Nagra), exclaims, "Anyone can do aloo gobi, but who can bend a ball like Beckham?" I figured I might be in for an interesting evening, given how little I know about Indian cuisine and how much less about British soccer (football).
I didn't learn about either from this fuzzily friendly film, but I came away with a much better understanding of the Indian/Brit culture clash and the place or not of women in that struggle.Simply put, Jess's traditional Sikh parents now living in London want her to forget football and eventually get married to a nice Indian boy.
succinctly portrayed Asian life in contemporary Britain, while Bhaji On The Beach took the subject into the feature film; With Bend It Like Beckham she goes one step further, effectively mixing social realism with comedy and romance to equate an entertaining feature with a sharp script and great acting (Rhys-Meyers and Parminder Nagra are surefire bets for future Hollywood stardom).One thing to commend "...Beckham" on is that, in spite of its generic constraints (typical love story, narrative of underdog comes good against the odds, etc), it is as accurate a portrayal of modern Britain, or at least London, as mainstream cinema is ever likely to give us.
Also in the cast Keira Knightley and Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, as well as Juliet Stevenson who is a lot of fun in whatever film she's in.All in all, a fun time at the cinema, even though you don't understand a thing about football..
She has grown to love playing football (soccer, in the USA) and the movie actually opens with a daydream sequence where she is imagining herself playing for David Beckham's men's team.In spite of her mom and dad's objections she joins a girl's team, and quickly becomes friends with another teammate, Keira Knightley (actually a teenager) as Juliette 'Jules' Paxton.
They are coached by Jonathan Rhys Meyers as Joe. After her parents reluctantly accept her playing the sport another crisis arises when the final championship game will be held on the day her older sister is getting married.The movie is all good fun, some tension is created when both girls seem to be after the same guy, who also happens to be their coach, but all is resolved in the end, and each girl gets a scholarship to attend college in the US and play soccer..
"Bend it like Beckham", directed by Gurinde Chadha in 2002, deals with culture problems, soccer, friendship and love.
An Indian family has a soccer-playing daughter, named Jesminder, who wants to play football professionally like her idol Beckham, but she gets many problems.
if you want British Indian comedy then bend it like Beckham is the one you should watch.
This makes the movie not just for 'Indians only', but just about everybody.It's a very balanced film – there's comedy in it, drama, romance, football and yeah, Beckham!
BEND IT LIKE BECKHAMFirst of all I just have to say that I did not see this movie all the way through, so this review is only for what I saw.I did watch most of it I missed the first 20 minutes of the film, but watched the rest.It was pants!I didn't like the look of it before and after watching most of it I can say that I was right with my original instinct.The movie is about an Indian girl who just loves football and wants to play the game professionally but her parents are dead against it.So she decides to go behind their backs and plays anyway.The movie stars Keira Knightly, Parminder Nagra & Jonathan Rhys Meyers.I was very disappointed with the acting in this movie.
He looked like he was reading his lines off of a dummy card all the way though the movie.It is a shame really, because I loved From Paris With Love he did a great job in that, so I know he can act.The definite high note about this film was Parminder Nagra she was convincing in her role.
And, in my book, lead actress Parminder Nagra is one of the most gorgeous creatures ever captured on screen – not only because she can lay claim to that hackneyed adjective, "luminous," but because her performance has an honesty and un-bookish intelligence that's utterly compelling.The result is a film women can enjoy without feeling like they're making a pact with the devil to do so.
And, in my book, lead actress Parminder Nagra is one of the most gorgeous creatures ever captured on screen – not only because she can lay claim to that hackneyed adjective, "luminous," but because her performance has an honesty and un-bookish intelligence that's utterly compelling.The result is a film women can enjoy without feeling like they're making a pact with the devil to do so.
Bend It Like Beckham is a fun movie about a British Indian girl named Jess (Parminder Nagra) who loves the game of soccer more than anything, but is encouraged by her traditional parents to abandon her passion and focus on other areas of her life, like finding a husband.
Bend It Like Beckham is just a good, solid, entertaining family flick to watch.
Parminder Nagra, an actress I have never seen act anywhere else, plays the Indian teenager Jess living in England with a passion for football (for us Americans, soccer).
Parminder Nagra plays Jasminda an Indien girl who has a great passion for football and David Beckham, lives in London with her family, which is very traditional.
I think the end of this film is a little bit unrealistic because the connection of our cultures and the agreement of the parents of for example Indian girls, to live like they want, will need much more time.
The movie " Bend it like Beckham " by Gurinder Chadha is a great comedy which deals with the conflict of a young girl living between two coltures .
Even if this is a typical Hollywood movie with a big happy-end and a predictable story it is a great film to watch !
Although that film makes you laugh a lot , it also shows you some true problems in our society and this is why " Bend it like Beckham " is not only a movie like many others : Living between two cultures can be very hard - also Jess realizes , that it is impossible to link the traditional way of life with the modern way of London-living.
Gurinder Chadhas' "Bend it like Beckham" is an all in all entertainer that will find its way right into the hearts of all who watch it.Jesminder "Jess" Bhamra (Perminder N.
The title and this Beckham cult is ways to overacted and doesn't really fit the film and is just to fancy football fans, who will be disappointed after watching the movie.
Some women adore football players because of their good looks, but there are also girls like Jess.
All in all BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM is a great film with fantastic actors, typical "English" humor, a happy ending and a serious message at the same time.
If you wonder what the post-colonial experience in the British society and a first class culture clash, soccer being its center, look like, you definitely need to find out about the story Indian teenager Jess (Parminder Nagra) from Houslow, Greater London, has to tell us.
Eventually, there's a Happy End to the movie, although the viewer might be surprised how quickly things can change in the Bhamra family considering the parents' original opinion on Jess playing soccer.
There is Jules, who gets Jess into a girls soccer team and becomes a good friend of her.