It's Damned good (The Damned United (DVD))

Member Name: eatingpinkzebras

Product:	The Damned United (DVD)
Date:	23/04/09 (116 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Very good acting and writing, clever structure

Disadvantages: Not sure it's totally historically accurate!

This is a film only review because the DVD has not yet been released. This film is still showing in some cinemas as of April 2009, so you can catch it if you're quick!

I am not a particular fan of football and had barely heard of Brian Clough before watching this film, but I was dragged along by my partner and found that despite this I really enjoyed the movie.

The Damned United was adapted from David Peace's novel of the same name which was a bestseller. It features the story of football manager Brian Clough who took over Leeds United in 1974 after a six year stint at Derby County where he has managed to transform the club and move it up several leagues. Clough however did not have the same success at Leeds and won only one of the six games they played under his management.

This doesn't sound like a particularly exciting story, but the acting, writing and the way the film is structured makes this a much more interesting movie than it could have been. Rather than telling the story in a chronological, linear way, the film begins with Clough's arrival at Leeds and follows his progress there, but continually cuts back to his time at Derby.

The times at Derby show how Clough's hatred for Leeds began and developed, how his character and personality got in the way of his career even though they had also kickstarted it, and how his relationship with his assistant manager Peter Taylor developed and then fell apart.

The Derby parts of the film really help the audience to understand Clough's motivation and sympathise with him. By interspersing the different time periods, the film sets up questions in the Leeds part as to why Clough and Taylor fell out and why Clough hated the previous Leeds manager Don Revie, and this keeps the audience's attention and makes them look forward to the Derby parts which will explain such things.

The acting in this film is excellent. Michael Sheen plays Brian Clough and manages to come across as flawed and arrogant whilst still being sympathetic, vulnerable and even pathetic. Timothy Spall, who I don't usually enjoy watching, is very good as Peter Taylor and gives a very realistic performance.

The film kept my attention all the way through. It doesn't matter if you don't like football as there is very little footballing action shown. This is less a film about football and more of a character study of Clough.

I'm not sure that the film was be interesting enough to make me want to watch it again but I am definitely pleased that I've seen it and if it was on TV one day in the future I might be tempted to see it once more. The acting is certainly top notch and it is a really well produced film that surprised me, in a good way.

Summary: Surprisingly good