The Edge. (15.)
Directed by Barney Douglas
Featuring Kevin Pietersen, Alastair Cook, Stuart Broad, Monty Panesar, Tim Bresnan, Andrew Strauss, Graeme Swann, James Anderson, Steven Finn, Andy Flower, Ian Bell, Matt Prior, Paul Collingwood and Jonathan Trott. 95 mins. Selected cinemas and out on Blu-ray and DVD
This being a film about English Test cricket, it is appropriate that the opening is disappointing. It starts with Jimmy Anderson, the country's record wicket-taker running across a deserted stretch of sandy beach towards the camera. And when he reaches it, and stands there panting, you hope he's going to say "It's" and for a big foot to come down and squash him and announce Monty Panesar's Flying Circus. Instead, we have narrator Toby Jones telling us that cricket is not just a game but, “A dual between the mind and time.”
But, after that portentous golden duck, the innings rallies considerably and this telling of how, under Zimbabwean coach Andy Flowers, the England cricket team went from 7th in the test rankings to no. 1 in less than two years posts a pretty decent total. It looks slick and is pretty insightful on how successful sporting teams function (and then dysfunction), how high the highs are, how low the lows, and how relentless the pressures.
The film's publicity claims that it is “Test Cricket like you've never seen it before,” and I think it just about lives up to that bold claim. The footage from the tours of Australia captures the intensity of Test Cricket in a way I haven't really experienced before. Apart from baseball, I can't think of another sport where a man stands alone against the whole of the opposition. (In baseball they're off after a few minutes, in Test cricket they're expected to make a day of it.) If the game is at Melbourne's MCG than it is him against a team and 100,000 hostile locals. These scenes also outlines what a ghastly bunch Aussie cricketers are, Michael Clarke snickering like a weaselly schoolboy sucking up to the bullies as he taunts the batsman that Mitchell Johnson is going to break his arm.
The movie is revealing, but guarded. The various Kevin Pietersen dramas are gone through but the details are blurred and names aren't named. There is also a distinct lack of cricket. The victories and the defeats aren't gone over in depth. That's understandable as the film has other stories and angles to pursue but as events took place in the depths of the Sky era when none of this stuff was seen by most people it's a regret. What the film is strong on is the psychological cost of high-level sport, and why cricket seems to play havoc on players mental health. This is mainly shown through the travails of Jonathon Trott who still seems to be paying a high price for a period of glory at the top of the sport. Watching him sadly recall his days at the top, the pain it caused him and how much he misses being in the middle batting with his team mates really is test cricket like you've never seen it before.
Directed by Barney Douglas
Featuring Kevin Pietersen, Alastair Cook, Stuart Broad, Monty Panesar, Tim Bresnan, Andrew Strauss, Graeme Swann, James Anderson, Steven Finn, Andy Flower, Ian Bell, Matt Prior, Paul Collingwood and Jonathan Trott. 95 mins. Selected cinemas and out on Blu-ray and DVD
This being a film about English Test cricket, it is appropriate that the opening is disappointing. It starts with Jimmy Anderson, the country's record wicket-taker running across a deserted stretch of sandy beach towards the camera. And when he reaches it, and stands there panting, you hope he's going to say "It's" and for a big foot to come down and squash him and announce Monty Panesar's Flying Circus. Instead, we have narrator Toby Jones telling us that cricket is not just a game but, “A dual between the mind and time.”
But, after that portentous golden duck, the innings rallies considerably and this telling of how, under Zimbabwean coach Andy Flowers, the England cricket team went from 7th in the test rankings to no. 1 in less than two years posts a pretty decent total. It looks slick and is pretty insightful on how successful sporting teams function (and then dysfunction), how high the highs are, how low the lows, and how relentless the pressures.
The film's publicity claims that it is “Test Cricket like you've never seen it before,” and I think it just about lives up to that bold claim. The footage from the tours of Australia captures the intensity of Test Cricket in a way I haven't really experienced before. Apart from baseball, I can't think of another sport where a man stands alone against the whole of the opposition. (In baseball they're off after a few minutes, in Test cricket they're expected to make a day of it.) If the game is at Melbourne's MCG than it is him against a team and 100,000 hostile locals. These scenes also outlines what a ghastly bunch Aussie cricketers are, Michael Clarke snickering like a weaselly schoolboy sucking up to the bullies as he taunts the batsman that Mitchell Johnson is going to break his arm.
The movie is revealing, but guarded. The various Kevin Pietersen dramas are gone through but the details are blurred and names aren't named. There is also a distinct lack of cricket. The victories and the defeats aren't gone over in depth. That's understandable as the film has other stories and angles to pursue but as events took place in the depths of the Sky era when none of this stuff was seen by most people it's a regret. What the film is strong on is the psychological cost of high-level sport, and why cricket seems to play havoc on players mental health. This is mainly shown through the travails of Jonathon Trott who still seems to be paying a high price for a period of glory at the top of the sport. Watching him sadly recall his days at the top, the pain it caused him and how much he misses being in the middle batting with his team mates really is test cricket like you've never seen it before.
