Another movie I passed on at TIFF ’09. The reasons? The glut of soccer movies: I lumped them all together. An English language film: I tend to shy away from these at festivals, preferring to see movies that are less likely ever to see theatrical release in the US. Michael Sheen: I’d not cared for his David Frost role in Frost/Nixon. Interestingly, the David Frost character plays a minor role in Tom Hopper’s (John Adams) movie about English soccer phenom, Brian Clough. Sheen, who does an excellent job here, more than makes up for the disappointment in his David Frost role. I think he’s better here than even in The Queen.
The Damned United is a study of over weaning ambition, loyalty and obsessive revenge. Painted with a rather broad brush, it’s still an entertaining movie – and you really need to know nothing about British soccer (football) or have heard of the quite famous Brian Clough to enjoy it.
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