mspostlethwaite89

Having seen pretty much every football hooligan based film available, I was pleasantly surprised by this film. Perhaps the fact that the film is based on a true story explains why the storyline seems so fresh and original. Clearly there is the classic basis of a plot as for most films of this nature - new guy in the firm; earns respect; works the way to the top; gets a family; suffers a traumatic event (or 2) and then seeks revenge. I think the reason that this film didn't bore me with the storyline is because you got a lot of background information on the main character Carol (a.k.a. "Cass"), which is different to a lot of other films of this sub-genre.

The film has a good balance of drama, comedy and violence. The drama is focused mainly on the main character and his relationships with the people closest to him. The comedy is very 'laddish', usually focused around sex and violence (as you would expect of a film of this type!), and is very dry.

As for the violence, I was very impressed about the varying ways it was shot. In the big fights in between the firms the camera puts the viewer right in the middle of the action with shots coming from the centre of the firms as they run towards each other. This is not to say you don't see any individual one-on-one scraps, but it is refreshingly varied.

To conclude this is a very good film that drew me in quite quickly. The main character is very well played by Nonso Anozie and it is easy to understand how he became to be how he was. I would recommend this film to anyone who is bored of the other 'hooligan' films and wants to see the hooligan life from a slightly different angle. The only thing to note about this film is that there is very little focus on the actual football side of things, so don't expect to see the firms at any matches! All in all this is a great film and I would give it a 9/10.