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Year:    1997
Studio:  Trimark/Channel Four Films
Feature: 2/5
DVD:     0/5

I remember this independent film causing a bit of a furor because of it's unique scenes of a sporting event, in this case a soccer game. Instead of filming the sports action, they filmed the fans. Roaring and cheering and shoving each other and silent. Now, I've always had the impression that a lot of the movie was like that but in reality it's only a handful of scenes spanning about 10 minutes of the movie.

Anyway, Dave wanted me to watch this movie thinking that I'd like it. The movie is about two teachers at a primary school: Paul (Colin Firth) and Sarah (Ruth Gemmell). They fall in love and Sarah has to deal with Paul's obsession with Arsenal (a soccer team in Britain's Premier League). We keep flashing back to Paul's childhood when he first became an Arsenal fan.

This is a movie familiar to sports fans. It's about being obsessed with your team and how you live and die based on how they do. It's about learning to grow up I suppose, to take real responsibilities (Sarah becomes pregnant and Paul wants to be responsible and yet just can't seem to tear himself away from Arsenal). Meanwhile for the significant other we see a bit from their perspective as they feel abandoned at times.
Still, I didn't particularly like this movie. The big problem for me is that it is too British. There's way too much slang that went past me. At times it's like they're talking a foreign language. Also I'm not that much of a soccer fan so the sports angle didn't really interest me. And the pacing of the movie just didn't seem click.

Overall not a movie I'd recommend.

Copyright (c) 2004 Kevin C. Wong
Page Created: November 28, 2004
Page Last Updated: November 28, 2004