The Damned United
By Marshall Fine
Rating:
Who's in it: Michael Sheen, Jim Broadbent
What's it about: In early 1970s England, a brash soccer coach takes over the country's best professional team.
Kicker: Based on a true story, the film is about Brian Clough (Sheen, "Frost/Nixon"), who replaced a legendary coach and then bombed miserably by alienating the star players on the new team. This film was written by Peter Morgan ("Frost/Nixon," "The Queen") and shows us Clough as an unpredictable firebrand who's both a great coach and amazingly self-destructive - willing to risk his career and his relationships to prove his own greatness. Sheen has a foxy smile, wired energy and great chemistry with his unflamboyant but crucial second-in-command (Timothy Spall). He meets his match in the coach he replaces (Colm Meaney), who brushes him off like dirt on his shoulder - infuriating Clough even more. It's a great movie about ego and ambition, set in the world of professional sports.
Long story short: You don't have to know soccer to get a kick out of this.
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