Right, first off I will come clean. I know absolutely NOTHING about football & footy hooliganism, but in 1989 I was 20, saw this movie with my dad & it blew me away!
Like wise this was also the movie where I discoverd, who is in my opinion, is the FINEST British actor of our generation. I fell head over heals for the gorgeous & ultra talented Gary Oldman, so for 30 plus years I have been a massive fan & seen all his work at some time or another. Here in the Firm he is Bex. An outwardly respectable estate agent & family man with his wife (Lesley Manville; Mrs Gary Oldman the first in real life) & little child, living in a respectable house with a nice car. Yet Bex is actually an unhinged, phsycotic who lives & breaths football violence. He is the top boy of the Inner City Crew a small firm of other hooligans, planning an assult on the German Football EU cup. Bex wants to band up with rival firm called the Bucaneers & they meet in a pub to try & sort it out...Now this decends into what I can only describe as a school yard little boys slanging match. which is very infantile & perhaps the only off putting moment in the film. However Gary Oldman seems to play up to this, revelling in his character (Oldman is a classically trained character/method actor) which is a saving grace. The supporting cast is a mixture of rather impressive Britsh actors of stage & TV screen including the superb Nick Dunning (RSC, The Tudors) & the sadly missed Terry Sue-Patt of Grange Hill fame. The rest of the cast is diverse which today's audience will enjoy & the acting is excellent. Aslo despite the fact the Firm is mostly about violence the script is surprizingly witty in places & the pacing is good.
People viewing this today should remember this was also a product of the time in Britain with middle class yuppie culture, which explains the cast in Big suits & sunglasses, however if placing the cast in smarts suits to make them appear mafia types, this sadly fails in this film. But the real absolute gem here is Oldman's acting which is sublime, scarey (Gary says Hollyweird calls him "Crazy, scarey Gary Oldman!) nerve shaking, yet exquisite. After GO relocated to the USA it would take him 30 years of his sold, beauitifull & very hard work for him to be finally awarded an Oscar for his portral as Winston Churchill in "The Darkest Hour"....However Hollywood executives (I believe) overlooked GO's work as he is a real life Conseratve, & Hollywood hates conservaties!
Well, yes there IS a LOT of violence in this movie, but its social commentry of British football hooliganism of the time it was set is stunning. This is also a short film, filmed on a low budget with little resources, yet it packs a punch that is sadly lacking in any limp wristed, liberal, wishy-washy socialist clap trap that Hollywood churn out today in their so called blockbusters. The Firm is a gritty, warts & all portrayal of the infamous thugs of 80's football scene. & it does what it says on the tin!
Like wise this was also the movie where I discoverd, who is in my opinion, is the FINEST British actor of our generation. I fell head over heals for the gorgeous & ultra talented Gary Oldman, so for 30 plus years I have been a massive fan & seen all his work at some time or another. Here in the Firm he is Bex. An outwardly respectable estate agent & family man with his wife (Lesley Manville; Mrs Gary Oldman the first in real life) & little child, living in a respectable house with a nice car. Yet Bex is actually an unhinged, phsycotic who lives & breaths football violence. He is the top boy of the Inner City Crew a small firm of other hooligans, planning an assult on the German Football EU cup. Bex wants to band up with rival firm called the Bucaneers & they meet in a pub to try & sort it out...Now this decends into what I can only describe as a school yard little boys slanging match. which is very infantile & perhaps the only off putting moment in the film. However Gary Oldman seems to play up to this, revelling in his character (Oldman is a classically trained character/method actor) which is a saving grace. The supporting cast is a mixture of rather impressive Britsh actors of stage & TV screen including the superb Nick Dunning (RSC, The Tudors) & the sadly missed Terry Sue-Patt of Grange Hill fame. The rest of the cast is diverse which today's audience will enjoy & the acting is excellent. Aslo despite the fact the Firm is mostly about violence the script is surprizingly witty in places & the pacing is good.
People viewing this today should remember this was also a product of the time in Britain with middle class yuppie culture, which explains the cast in Big suits & sunglasses, however if placing the cast in smarts suits to make them appear mafia types, this sadly fails in this film. But the real absolute gem here is Oldman's acting which is sublime, scarey (Gary says Hollyweird calls him "Crazy, scarey Gary Oldman!) nerve shaking, yet exquisite. After GO relocated to the USA it would take him 30 years of his sold, beauitifull & very hard work for him to be finally awarded an Oscar for his portral as Winston Churchill in "The Darkest Hour"....However Hollywood executives (I believe) overlooked GO's work as he is a real life Conseratve, & Hollywood hates conservaties!
Well, yes there IS a LOT of violence in this movie, but its social commentry of British football hooliganism of the time it was set is stunning. This is also a short film, filmed on a low budget with little resources, yet it packs a punch that is sadly lacking in any limp wristed, liberal, wishy-washy socialist clap trap that Hollywood churn out today in their so called blockbusters. The Firm is a gritty, warts & all portrayal of the infamous thugs of 80's football scene. & it does what it says on the tin!