Hooligans (2005)
Genre: Crime / Drama
Duration: 109 minuten
Alternative titles: Green Street / Green Street Hooligans
Country:
United Kingdom / United States
Directed by: Lexi Alexander
Stars: Elijah Wood, Charlie Hunnam and Ross McCall
IMDb score:
7,4 (170.508)
Releasedate: 9 September 2005
This movie is not available on US streaming services.
Hooligans plot
"Just think of someone you hate."
Matt Buckner is an American student at Harvard, but is expelled from school after an incident. He travels to his sister Shannon in London and soon meets Pete Dunham, the brother of Shannon's husband. Before long, Matt joins the hard core of West Ham United, led by Pete, as he finds himself in the grueling battle between the West Ham and Millwall hooligans.
Actors and actresses
Matt Buckner
Shannon Dunham
Pete Dunham
Dave Bjorno
Bovver
Steve Dunham
Swill
Ike
Tommy Hatcher
Carl Buckner
Reviews & comments
Vidi well
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- 540 messages
- 703 votes
Football doesn't do much for me. And that's a good thing in this case. We see exactly two snippets of matches in this film (one even if we don't include the kicking field of the pupils ), but that doesn't matter for this film. Football is a bad sideshow, as Pete himself explains. These hooligans are all about honor, to uphold the reputation of their club. And for camaraderie.
Elijah Wood will always be Frodo to me. It's not his fault because that role just suited him very well, but as a badass I can hardly take him seriously. Nevertheless, it works here. Especially because he starts out as a wimp, and gradually develops into a true fighter. That transformation will come fairly quickly, but oh well, that keeps things going well and does not detract from credibility.
What does detract from credibility is the fact that an unknown boy gets involved in this club very easily. A club that is averse to outsiders, spits on journalists... how credible is it that this outsider joins the fight within a few days and thinks along in the plans of this club?
The fights are nice and raw, you really feel the energy. Good music too, that really boosts the mood and gives the film the necessary attitude. Under the last fight, however, the music is a lot more dramatic, which immediately illustrates the futility and tragedy of all this endless fighting. (By the way, the music in the last fight scene reminded me a lot of Brothers in Arms by Dire Straits, maybe they didn't get the rights to that?)
But those are minor details. A film in which I empathize intensively for an hour and a half with a club of vandals who have very different hobbies than I do, does something good.
And if I myself feel the kick of a game of fighting and can even understand the territorial urge of these working class heroes, then Hooligans is just a great film!
4*
Translated from Dutch · View original
IH88
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- 9761 messages
- 3190 votes
“You don't run, not when you're with us... You stand your ground and fight!”
Great movie. Hooligans is certainly not subtle, and especially at the end, director Lexi Alexander goes on a rampage like a wrecking ball. Because of course the "hero" has to learn something from beating fans of rival football clubs, and of course someone has to die. But the family feeling that develops in such a supporter group is well represented, and the football is almost secondary to the bond that the supporters have among themselves. Wood isn't great, but luckily Hunnam is in great shape. That raw British atmosphere of beer, dilapidated houses, bad weather, football and fights comes across well.
Translated from Dutch · View original
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