Looking For Eric (15.)
Directed by Ken Loach.
Starring Steve Evets, Eric Cantona, John Henshaw, Stephanie Bishop, Gerard Kearns, Justin Moorhouse. 116 mins
Cantona and Loach is supposedly an odd mix but once you understand that they’ve concocted a foul mouthed, social realist reworking of Woody Allen’s Play it Again Sam, with the legendary footballer rather than Bogart offering life guidance to a forlorn, desperate Man Utd fan called Eric (Evets), then the film is actually rather predictable.
The pre-publicity is anxious to paint this in the lightest and funniest of shades but the wider audience should be pre warned that the Ken Loach conception of Feelgood may not match up with that of their usual product. It is a comedy and it is funny (though the biggest laugh is inadvertent – a Utd fan excitedly shouting about being off to see a game against Barcelona) but in between the good times he puts his characters through some really grindingly miserable times.
Ultimately though it is, little bit of a spoiler here, a hopeful and optimistic film and that carries some weight because in Loach film’s happy endings do not come as standard so whenever you get one you tend to treasure them.
It is a film about football. Not exclusively so but along with the standard Loach concerns about how the decent working man can get along in an indecent society the film nicely expresses the pull and importance of the game. There’s a debate about the merits of breakaway team FC United and a shaky moment when the dialogue between the two Erics turns into a Gabby Logan style interview about Cantona’s best moments.
And it is Cantona’s film. He was rubbish last month in French Film but he’s very good here. Eric Cantona is the role Eric Cantona was born to play. As long as you are vaguely photogenic, everybody (from Tom Cruise to Vinnie Jones) has one great movie role in them. It works because this hammy actor was once a very hammy footballer. The film has a brief sequence on his most acclaimed goal, a run and chip against Sunderland. It is indeed a fine goal but it’s the celebration that made it so memorable, the way he just stops and turns as if he’s willing time to stand still in acknowledgement of what he has just achieved, to linger for a second or two in this moment of absolute stardom.
Looking For Eric (15.)
Directed by Ken Loach.
Starring Steve Evets, Eric Cantona, John Henshaw, Stephanie Bishop, Gerard Kearns, Justin Moorhouse. 116 mins
Cantona and Loach is supposedly an odd mix but once you understand that they’ve concocted a foul mouthed, social realist reworking of Woody Allen’s Play it Again Sam, with the legendary footballer rather than Bogart offering life guidance to a forlorn, desperate Man Utd fan called Eric (Evets), then the film is actually rather predictable.
The pre-publicity is anxious to paint this in the lightest and funniest of shades but the wider audience should be pre warned that the Ken Loach conception of Feelgood may not match up with that of their usual product. It is a comedy and it is funny (though the biggest laugh is inadvertent – a Utd fan excitedly shouting about being off to see a game against Barcelona) but in between the good times he puts his characters through some really grindingly miserable times.
Ultimately though it is, little bit of a spoiler here, a hopeful and optimistic film and that carries some weight because in Loach film’s happy endings do not come as standard so whenever you get one you tend to treasure them.
It is a film about football. Not exclusively so but along with the standard Loach concerns about how the decent working man can get along in an indecent society the film nicely expresses the pull and importance of the game. There’s a debate about the merits of breakaway team FC United and a shaky moment when the dialogue between the two Erics turns into a Gabby Logan style interview about Cantona’s best moments.
And it is Cantona’s film. He was rubbish last month in French Film but he’s very good here. Eric Cantona is the role Eric Cantona was born to play. As long as you are vaguely photogenic, everybody (from Tom Cruise to Vinnie Jones) has one great movie role in them. It works because this hammy actor was once a very hammy footballer. The film has a brief sequence on his most acclaimed goal, a run and chip against Sunderland. It is indeed a fine goal but it’s the celebration that made it so memorable, the way he just stops and turns as if he’s willing time to stand still in acknowledgement of what he has just achieved, to linger for a second or two in this moment of absolute stardom.
