All in the Game

Just watched this on TV tonight...

Firstly, the entire cast put in a rock-solid performance, Marsden and Winstone were both outstanding, but the rest of the supporting characters also hit all the points The timing... right between the end of the Premier League season and the start of the world cup... I'm betting someone got a bonus in this months salary for that piece of scheduling.

The story, involving such an emotive subject, will make real fans uncomfortable... Winstone plays a character I felt like I could punch repeatedly whilst screaming "Stop killing my game!" into his face... but will also maybe baffle people who just don't "get" the idea that it's perfectly alright to paint tribal colours on your face and congregate in a big concrete bowl, chanting at the rites performed on a patch of grass below.

Both Winstone and Marsdens characters obviously love football with a passion... Marsden prepared to sacrifice all his money for that love, Winstone prepared to sacrifice his love for money... and both of them "doing it for their families". Tragedy on a Shakespearean scale.