Reviewing Movies

Six foot one Charlie Hunnan has a six-pack that has graced several magazine covers; Cherub-faced five foot something Elijah Wood sports baby-fat pudge he should be ashamed to expose onscreen. That the latter is included in a cast of back-street brawlers owes much to the star power of Lord of the Rings. Although the anti-hero of the piece dies in Shakespearean Tragedy like circumstances one has to wonder if this movie does anything but serve to glorify soccer hooliganism. As one who has little interest in organized sport the level at which soccer fans identify with their chosen teams and equate their success with patriotism and their own machismo is lost on me. For the protagonists in this movie such loyalties are life itself. Much is made of the fact that soccer hooligans are ordinary working Joes who just happen to belong to Football Firms, patronize their Firm’s bar, fanatically support their team, and engage in fisticuffs with opposing fans. Indeed we see scenes of Charlie’s character teaching history and gym to his first form class. That greenish tinge that is washed over Elijah’s character is reminiscent of Gollum in Lord of the Rings.