David Beckham: For the Love of the Game

I disagree heartily with the only other review here. Beckham is never going to be a documentary maker but he is loved worldwide and uses his position to further the cause of UNICEF through football. He sets out to play a game of football with people in places that are enduring hardship of one form or another, Papua New Guinea a country that is lush for farming but people do not enjoy the efforts of their own labours they feed their children on junk food because they sell whatever they grow. Nepal, still suffering from the effects of the devastating earthquakes. So he doesn't wear proper football kit, neither do the locals, to focus on this is to entirely miss the point. It isn't a football documentary, football is a tool. 7 matches in 7 days all around the world ending at Old Trafford to raise funds for UNICEF and David's own foundation. I learnt a lot about the various locations visited and admired David for his enduring support for UNICEF and his obvious love of children.

A movie depicting the ways football (soccer) is played in different parts of the world is always a good idea. For this, I suggest you Dutch documentary "The other final". Unfortunately, it is not what this doc is about. The aim here is to show David Bekham living "exotic" experiences, being celebrated by the crowd everywhere and showing himslef concerned about poverty, underdevelopment and unhappiness, in the most obvious British colonist style. It seems so fake that he does not even wear sports clothes to play football in the first matches. A movie "for the love of the game" would be still welcome, as we watched one "for the love of Beckham".