If there's one thing I have learned watching British cinema it is this: for a country that gave name to the English language, they sure know how to ruin said language. I seriously almost turned the movie off within the first 15 minutes because I could barely understand what anyone was saying. I've spent enough time in the UK to get most of the slang and whatnot, but the accents of the two main characters are just too thick. Plus, as one reviewer has already pointed out, the movie is rather bland. I think it wanted to be a slightly more dramatic version of Green Street Hooligans, but it ended up as a similar movie without much of the fighting or compelling story.
To be honest with you, I really like the idea of completely ditching the relationship between the two main characters. It's nearly impossible to follow and pretty pointless. And while I usually enjoy watching Stephen Graham do his thing, this role is a bit of a waste for him.
All in all I'd find it hard to give this a good recommendation to a friend. It's not awful, but it just feels kind of pointless. If it was more an interesting snapshot of England in the 1970's (along with the hooligan aspect) it would've worked a lot better. Throw in all the melodramatic pointlessness and it becomes increasingly less so. I guess you could watch it if you didn't have anything better to do, but that's all the endorsement I'm willing to give it.
To be honest with you, I really like the idea of completely ditching the relationship between the two main characters. It's nearly impossible to follow and pretty pointless. And while I usually enjoy watching Stephen Graham do his thing, this role is a bit of a waste for him.
All in all I'd find it hard to give this a good recommendation to a friend. It's not awful, but it just feels kind of pointless. If it was more an interesting snapshot of England in the 1970's (along with the hooligan aspect) it would've worked a lot better. Throw in all the melodramatic pointlessness and it becomes increasingly less so. I guess you could watch it if you didn't have anything better to do, but that's all the endorsement I'm willing to give it.