United

I was once in a play about Hillsborough and that started my interest in foot ball a bit morbid i know but you have to start somewhere.I new nothing of the details about the 1958 air disaster in Munich and i feel after see this nostalgic drama i should. While watching United there was a wonderful reminiscence rather than a desperate pot boiler the plot and performances led you by the hand and cared for you throughout the hour and a half. The only thing i could relate this to would be Dead Poets Society or Remember The Titans. I did feel that David Tennant was far better than anything i have seen him in before and Dougary Scot should not only have played wolverine but is the only choice for a Sean Connery the life of film.

Simply put, I like this movie because it really, really does give one a feel for the 'old time' game... and in fact, showing actual games might have taken away from the story line. I know we get that in movies like Goal but in one of the best Soccer/Football movies ever, The Damned United, it is kept at a minimum. Besides that, a lot of people praise The Damned United but that movie in the end is based very loosely on the David Peace book, a work of fiction to begin with, the movie was a great improvement on the book.

Those who enjoy reading about soccer/football in the old days like the William Hill sports book of the year; "My father and other working class heroes" or books on Sirs Tom Finney or Stanley Matthews most likely will find this movie very entertaining. And I have to say, it is a quite moving and introspective motion picture as well, a bit more of a somber movie. Perhaps a parallel to an American sports movie might be to compare it to the great "Fear strikes out" where the sport itself is a bit secondary to the plot. I'm not a Manchester United fan at all, but with this movie, I could envision other soccer/football movies that might not always be following the "Team overcomes great odds and wins" i.e. "Rocky" formula.

A sombre drama unlikely to see service as an in-flight movie for any airline carrying fans to Quatar to see the current World Cup. Containing remarkably little footage of football itself, it instead concentrates on the office politics that culminated in Busby's Babes taking that ill-fated flight in 1958. As manager Jimmy Murphy David Tennant's eyes are ablaze with both the fire of fanatical passion for the game and wide with grief in the aftermath of the Munich air crash. An interesting use of colour is the use of the bright red of the Man United strip against the otherwise drab depiction of fifties Britain.

United is a docu-drama about the infamous 1958 Munich air disaster which claimed the lives of many of the Busby Babes and how the Manchester United team marched on from that dark day and rebuilt.

The focus is less on Matt Busby played by Dougray Scott in a stoic manner because he is sidelined after the crash as Busby was seriously injured and hospitalised for some time.

The focus is on David Tennant as Jimmy Murphy who has to cope with the aftermath, get a side together some from the lower leagues and get them to play. There is also the issue of some of the survivors being emotionally damaged from the incident such as Bobby Charlton who feels unable to play. Then there are the injuries to Duncan Edwards widely regarded as one of the best young players of his generation who survived the crash but later died.

As someone who knew little but the basics of this disaster I found the film informative and emotional. I would acknowledge the film had to condense the story which means some of the characters are sidelined or ignored but it is an affirming story of overcoming the odds that should get even non soccer fans involved.

Manchester United is such a great team even I have heard of it.

This is a good movie, even if you don't find soccer interesting. It is a movie about a different time, and that in itself means something. The team is like family to the woman who feeds them where they live. But then there is the inspiring story about Bobby trying to become a starting player and ending up as one of the team's best.

There are lots of good acting performances, and David Tennant is one of the best as Coach Murphy. Dougray Scott is very good too, but he seems more mean and tough than kind and caring.

Jack O'Connell impresses too as Bobby.

Right before the tragic event, the music is very ominous. Everything about these scenes about halfway through points to some terrible event we already know is going to happen.

And afterward, there as a different but even more inspiring story. It is hard to watch but worthwhile. The news anchor is not kind and comforting but he confronts us with the reality. Will this team make it? Well, I did say Manchester United was so great I had actually heard of it.

Yes, it's really a winner.