STAR RATING: ***** The Works **** Just Misses the Mark *** That Little Bit In Between ** Lagging Behind * The Pits
Just last week, when I was reviewing Made in Britain, I commented that I'd like to get a chance to see The Firm, the last of Alan Clarke's really prominent works. I also noted that MIB was 'short, sharp and shocking' but that really ends up applying more to this film. Barely even feature length and not actually featuring that much footie violence (except for one or two, with one I recognized by my familiar Birmingham New Street) it's a film carried by Clarke's usual method of having no soundtrack and letting the film carry itself, as well as a startling lead performance from Gary Oldman as a man who can switch from a normal, calm assured guy one minute to a determined, angry psycho the next.
Bex (Oldman) cuts a nice living as an estate agent and on the surface appears to be a decent, respectable, ordinary everyday bloke. But every Saturday, it becomes a different matter. He heads the ICF Football 'Firm', responsible for organized soccer violence. The film charts his gradual deterioration, as he becomes more driven to mount the firm against impossible odds and come out as top dog.
Any fans of UK television should keep their eyes peeled throughout, as there's a whole host of familiar 'before-they-were-famous' faces on display, from Only Fools and Horses's Mickey Pearce, to Corrie's Jim McDonald (doing a reasonable cockney accent) and , least prominently, East Enders' Steve McFadden (aka Phil Mitchell) as one of the rival firm's thugs.
It's not on quite as grand a scope as later films with similar themes would be (I.D., The Football Factory) but kudos to the TV film that got the concept of soccer violence rolling. ****
Just last week, when I was reviewing Made in Britain, I commented that I'd like to get a chance to see The Firm, the last of Alan Clarke's really prominent works. I also noted that MIB was 'short, sharp and shocking' but that really ends up applying more to this film. Barely even feature length and not actually featuring that much footie violence (except for one or two, with one I recognized by my familiar Birmingham New Street) it's a film carried by Clarke's usual method of having no soundtrack and letting the film carry itself, as well as a startling lead performance from Gary Oldman as a man who can switch from a normal, calm assured guy one minute to a determined, angry psycho the next.
Bex (Oldman) cuts a nice living as an estate agent and on the surface appears to be a decent, respectable, ordinary everyday bloke. But every Saturday, it becomes a different matter. He heads the ICF Football 'Firm', responsible for organized soccer violence. The film charts his gradual deterioration, as he becomes more driven to mount the firm against impossible odds and come out as top dog.
Any fans of UK television should keep their eyes peeled throughout, as there's a whole host of familiar 'before-they-were-famous' faces on display, from Only Fools and Horses's Mickey Pearce, to Corrie's Jim McDonald (doing a reasonable cockney accent) and , least prominently, East Enders' Steve McFadden (aka Phil Mitchell) as one of the rival firm's thugs.
It's not on quite as grand a scope as later films with similar themes would be (I.D., The Football Factory) but kudos to the TV film that got the concept of soccer violence rolling. ****