Green Street Hooligans

I saw Hooligans last night at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema (downtown location) in Austin, Texas. This was a great feature length film debut for director Lexi Alexander. You have to like fight films though, because this was not sugar-coated (think Fight Club). Viewers never got much of a break from the violence. Lexi said in Q&A that this is based on some of the *firms/gangs* she was exposed to as a kid, and that it's not make believe--this stuff really goes on. I also learned that Lexi is a martial arts expert/champion (I think she's undefeated?).

Charlie Hunnan was absolutely amazing and I can't wait to see him appear in more films. I have to add that Lexi, Charlie, and the other cast members (including Elijah Wood) were extremely friendly in person. Charlie was polite to us and answered our questions about his career even though he was trying to grab a bite to eat...nice guy and a terrific actor!

5 Stars; A truly great film, with a powerful story. Beautifully photographed, in London, Wow! The audience was quickly involved, and laughed, started, and gave a standing ovation at the end. Truly a complete film, thank you for having a real ending to the film, which is so rare these days. Never apologize for this film, it is loving, stark, caring, hard, honest, violent, and beautiful. It touches the emotions, and the feeling of not belonging that exists within many of us, and that longing for love and brotherhood, that is not available without some dire costs. The characters were so clearly human, powerful and conflicted one was drawn to care for everything that happened to them and cheer at their triumphs and sit in horror at their losses.

I have recommended that everyone see this film during SXSW. My wife and I were expecting an audience award for the film, which it easily won, however the Jury Award was also won and we were give true appreciation for the jury system at SXSW.

Beautiful photographed, with outstanding music, this production hits all the marks out of the ballpark and should be studied for how powerful film today could be. This is the level of film making I aspire to achieve.

This was my favorite movie back in my teens, I still love it and I always will but I do acknowledge it's not perfect. The acting is sometimes way over the top and Charlie Hunnam's London accent is worse than mine and I'm not even a native speaker. The story is simple yet appealing, it's easy to get invested into it. The unlikely event that an American Harvard student moves to London and becoming a football/soccer hooligan is oddly appealing and it made me curious as to what's gonna happen next. I was not completely sold on the drama elements but what this movie lacks in complexity it makes up for in entertainment value. When I saw this for the first time I was on the edge of my seat throughout the entire movie.

If you looking for popcorn entertainment this is the movie for you.

If you looking for a deep story that will stick with you, you may wanna look elsewhere.

It has been interesting reading the comments here. It might be helpful to some, particularly our American and Canadian cousins, to have a little background information on the West Ham following over the years.

For some years (approx. 1967 - 1985) and before I realised the error of my ways and retired I was an active member of the West Ham mob, which was made up of several different firms from around the East End and parts of Essex. The main ones being the Mile End ('67 to around '74) and the TBF ('70's & '80's). The ICF got going around 1978 and carried through to the '90's. It was more of an umbrella name given to the combined firms who all came together for the away games. The West Ham mob consisted of between 300 to 400 individuals. The ranks would sometimes be swelled by several hundred regular supporters, so called scarfers (non violent). Often, particularly mid week matches up north, there could be significantly less. It would not be unusual to find oneself on a freezing cold terrace for a night game mid winter only 30-40 handed and outnumbered by a hostile opposition 20-1. It made for some hair raising experiences, particularly trying to navigate back to the railway station after the game through some pretty hostile unfamiliar back streets. West Ham always had a reputation for sticking together and never leaving anyone behind. There were some fearless individuals who held the line no matter the odds and the expectation was that everyone would stand with them. You earned respect by not bottling out, even if you were not much of a scrapper and had legs like jelly.

Our traditional rivals have always been Millwall. Correctly depicted in the film. This rivalry goes back at least to the 1920's and is steeped in the history of the London Docklands. West Ham also have a particular aversion to Manchester United and Chelsea for differing reasons.

Any West Ham supporter who was there will tell you that the most violent clash ever at a football match involving the club, and there have been many over the years, was actually a friendly. A mid week testimonial game against Millwall at the old Den (Millwall's old stadium) in 1972. Fortunately the two clubs play in different leagues and therefore do not play each other much, no doubt to the great relief of the Metropolitan Police.

Now to the film, I was expecting I would not enjoy Green Street as I had been disappointed by all the other Hooli films that had gone before. However, despite a questionable story line and some glaring inaccuracies, including the abysmal accent of the lead character played by Charlie Hunnam, I quite liked it. One has to make allowances for the fact that this was fictional and not a documentary. I thought the acting was generally pretty good and the camera work was of a high standard.

I am afraid that the Elijah Wood character would not have made it into our firm in my day. He would have been politely pointed in the direction of the scarfers and told to tag along with them, not because he was an American, if he genuinely supported West Ham this would have been good enough for us, no it would have been because he would have been considered a liability and we would have had to assign someone to keep an eye on him.

Finally in the real world the GSE would never have been the top firm down at Upton Park. The age range was too narrow and physically they were too light weight compared to some of the real life characters who graced the West Side, the South Bank and the Chicken Run.

Irons!!!

This is the best new movie of any genre that I've seen in many months.

The film really drew me into its world of neighborhood pubs, football supporters, and the dirt-in-the-cracks reality of London. The violence is believable, realistic, graphic, and frightening. As are the consequences of that violence. This film does not glorify hooliganism, it portrays it honestly.

Hooligans doesn't preach about mob mentality, or strength in numbers, rather it gives credit to the strength in the individual that lives up to his commitment to his friends though he may suffer because of it. (That's the best way I could word it without including a spoiler.)