'Three across the middle and one in bloody Parkhurst!' (Mike Bassett: England Manager (DVD))

Member Name: ben_83

Product:	Mike Bassett: England Manager (DVD)
Date:	06/10/01 (133 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: The characters of Bassett, Tonka and Wacko are well conceived and acted with aplomb, a large proportion of the jokes are very funny, the story will be familiar to many an England fan, the style is original and suits the film, it ends very unexpectedly

Disadvantages: The rest of the characters are weak, many jokes simply aren't funny

Films about sport are rubbish. Or rather, films focused on the sporting achievement itself instead of using it as a background for something more meaningful (á la 'Field of Dreams') are rubbish because the whole reason why we enjoy sport - it has no preordained outcome and therefore anything amazing that happens is down purely to skill or chance - is taken out of the equation. 'Mike Bassett: England Manager', although definitely a film about football, just about manages to pull it off, though.

The manager of England's football team has had a near-fatal heart-attack and the Football Association needs a replacement. However, all the top European coaches are taken and the managers of the best English clubs either don't want the job or are Scottish. Meanwhile, Norwich City have just beaten Leicester City at Wembley to clinch a minor cup under the stewardship of old-school English manager Mike Bassett (Ricky Tomlinson). As the title of the picture might suggest, the F.A. consider Bassett, as unglamorous as he might be, the best man for the job. After recalling the somewhat Gascoigne-esque Tonka (in a rather tired jibe at football managers, Bassett calls all his players by nicknames) to the squad, Bassett starts his assault on international football.

Tomlinson is superb, turning in a totally convincing and very funny performance as the Harry Redknapp/Dave Bassett/Barry Fry-style 'don't call me a coach' manager. The aforementioned Tonka and England captain Wacko (a disturbingly violent centre-half based quite obviously on Stuart Pearce) are also excellent characters played with verve but that, with the possible exception of an amusing cameo from Pelé, is pretty much where it ends. The rest of the squad and the coaching staff are all weak and this makes for a decidedly up-and-down picture.

Not that said ups aren't hilarious. The open-top bus ferrying the celebrating Norwich side around the city taking a wron
g turn is inspired, as is the scene in the airport in Brazil where a huge brawl between the England, Scotland and Ireland squads ensues. Doddsy (Bradley Walsh), the team coach, trying to steal a ball from some Brazilian children is also very funny. For those with a more lavatorial sense of humour, Tonka provides some choice cuts (I couldn't help but crack a smile at the scene in the team bath) but, thankfully, 'Mike Bassett: England Manager' never goes over-the-top with the gross-out stuff. Occasionally, painfully obvious targets are picked for derision (the best example of this being Bassett's profanity-laden irate half-time team talk) and some of the gags miss the spot (third division players Benson and Hedges being included in the squad is decidedly unfunny) but incidents like these are not frequent enough to spoil one's enjoyment of the movie's finer moments.

The documentary style of the film suits it well and is very reminiscent of the fly-on-the-wall programmes made about Graham Taylor, Peter Reid and Barry Fry. The story as a whole is superb: the hiring of yet another white elephant as England manager is something that every England fan can relate to (remember Kevin Keegan?). Additionally, the ending of the film is thoroughly unexpected and manages to be a happy one while at the same time not letting things get too nauseating.

'Mike Bassett: England Manager' is a charming film with a lot to offer to cinema-goers but a weak cast of characters and a considerable amount of so-so jokes conspire to lower its rating. It is well worth seeing but I can't help thinking that it would be forgotten if film and television audiences weren't so starved of quality comedy at the moment.

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