As an English ex-pat and a football fan, I went along to the Alamo Draft House hoping for the best but expecting the worst. I got the best. This film is simply brilliant and finally provides us with an accurate portrayal of life amongst the hooligans in a way The Football Factory or ID never did.
Central to this are the amazing fight scenes and the performances of the primary actors with Hunnam in particular doing an outstanding job. And if anyone believed that all Elijah Wood movies would forever be tainted with the image of Frodo Baggins, think again. Within about 10 seconds of screen time, any lingering thoughts of LOTR are gone.
Yet whilst the direction, actors and the stunts will attract all the plaudits, for me, the main reason why this film works so well is the very clever story and the amazing script. Yes, in many respects the subject has been 'Americanised' but it has been done in a way which is very subtle. I suspect that much of the credit for this goes to the writer Dougie Brimson because it is obvious very early on that there was a strong English influence on both the plot and the dialogue.
Given the level of violence, not to mention the subject matter, I'm not that sure mainstream America will respond that well to it but for me, the big test will come when it's shown in England but I suspect like me, the English audiences are going to love it.
