Looking For Eric - 9/10
I know the non United fans on here will expect this to be a hagiographical smug fest because it's about eric...but honestly, I went into this film ready to criticize it. I imagined it would have little to do with football, be a bit too arty and trade off Le Roi's name for commercial reasons....I've been let down by sports related films so much I wasn't expecting something authentic.,
My god was I wrong...This film is not portentious, it's realistic, it's not grim (like a lot of Loach films) It's heartwarming, it's not mawkish or sentimental, it's just right...and It doesn't use football in a flippant cak handed way, it uses it perfectly to illustrate the cameraderie and euphoric togetherness of the crowd mentality...
Football is everywhere in this film, but you don't have to like football to like the film. It's there in he background looming large but hardly ever directly influences the action. Most crucially, from a football perspective, it's made by and with people who know their shit. Often in films that include sport there is too much effort to seem like they know what their talking about. References are often cak handed and forced, or the lifestyle over dramatized and cliched...Here it's just right.
There's a 30 second conversation between a United fan proper, and an FC United fan about the merits of supporting each one. Both call the other a sell out. The convo has no bearing on anything in the film but it's there for people in the know. It's things like that that make this film a real fans film...Pete Boyles even in it.. It's about United fans, and for United fans...but you don't have to be a fan to enjoy it..
It helps that the leads are excellent. Eric (the postman) and his family (including the gay one from shameless) are excellent...even better are his friends & co-workers who provide the comic relief. Meatballs, the leader of his gang of mates, is hilarious and almost as captivating on screen as the man we'll all go and see this film for...
And that man is fantastic. In his first scene I was a little worried. He mumbles his lines a bit and at first doesn't seem completely at ease...but after his 2nd appearance, when he challenges Eric to say 'Non' to the things he doesn't like in his life, he is excellent. Radiating coolness and wisdom he dominates every scene he is in....
The finale tips slightly into OTT, but at it's heart is the spirit of football...and football fans...I won't ruin it because it's sensibly not in the trailers, and as such makes it a wonderfully stirring moment when it occurs (I was genuinely quite affected by it!)
All in all, this is a film about football fans, that nails it perfectly....but at the same time, its not a film about football fans, it's a film about facing your fears and trying to take control of your life with the help from those who love you!
I loved this film. I came out of it with a huge smile on my face....and my god. Eric's a fecking Legend!!!
I know the non United fans on here will expect this to be a hagiographical smug fest because it's about eric...but honestly, I went into this film ready to criticize it. I imagined it would have little to do with football, be a bit too arty and trade off Le Roi's name for commercial reasons....I've been let down by sports related films so much I wasn't expecting something authentic.,
My god was I wrong...This film is not portentious, it's realistic, it's not grim (like a lot of Loach films) It's heartwarming, it's not mawkish or sentimental, it's just right...and It doesn't use football in a flippant cak handed way, it uses it perfectly to illustrate the cameraderie and euphoric togetherness of the crowd mentality...
Football is everywhere in this film, but you don't have to like football to like the film. It's there in he background looming large but hardly ever directly influences the action. Most crucially, from a football perspective, it's made by and with people who know their shit. Often in films that include sport there is too much effort to seem like they know what their talking about. References are often cak handed and forced, or the lifestyle over dramatized and cliched...Here it's just right.
There's a 30 second conversation between a United fan proper, and an FC United fan about the merits of supporting each one. Both call the other a sell out. The convo has no bearing on anything in the film but it's there for people in the know. It's things like that that make this film a real fans film...Pete Boyles even in it.. It's about United fans, and for United fans...but you don't have to be a fan to enjoy it..
It helps that the leads are excellent. Eric (the postman) and his family (including the gay one from shameless) are excellent...even better are his friends & co-workers who provide the comic relief. Meatballs, the leader of his gang of mates, is hilarious and almost as captivating on screen as the man we'll all go and see this film for...
And that man is fantastic. In his first scene I was a little worried. He mumbles his lines a bit and at first doesn't seem completely at ease...but after his 2nd appearance, when he challenges Eric to say 'Non' to the things he doesn't like in his life, he is excellent. Radiating coolness and wisdom he dominates every scene he is in....
The finale tips slightly into OTT, but at it's heart is the spirit of football...and football fans...I won't ruin it because it's sensibly not in the trailers, and as such makes it a wonderfully stirring moment when it occurs (I was genuinely quite affected by it!)
All in all, this is a film about football fans, that nails it perfectly....but at the same time, its not a film about football fans, it's a film about facing your fears and trying to take control of your life with the help from those who love you!
I loved this film. I came out of it with a huge smile on my face....and my god. Eric's a fecking Legend!!!
