"Now then, young man..." (The Damned United (DVD))

Member Name: venceremos

Product:	The Damned United (DVD)
Date:	01/07/09 (19 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Michael Sheen - consistently brilliant

Disadvantages: Reservations from the Clough family

We should appreciate Michael Sheen while we still have him. An actor who can represent to us people we know already such as Tony Blair, Frankie Howerd and David Frost so convincingly, and to such crticial praise, is an acting talent indeed, and one worth nurturing and developing.

You certainly can't argue that he's not making the most of his luck and getting the roles he deserves. The Damned United was originally a bestselling novel by David Peace and so its conversion to film format at a time when Sheen's star is rising so high makes his casting a no-brainer. But Sheen doesn't rest on his laurels. I sat in a Nottingham cinema and heard rafts of knowing, wry chuckles from the audience around me whenever Sheen got a Cloughie mannerism or intonation just right, which was often. I remember Clough in his heyday, and I too enjoyed just how accurate the portrayal was.

But Sheen was not to be outdone by Colm Meaney as Don Revie. Never a popular figure in football, Revie's dour arrogance, reflected in his side's physical approach to The Beautiful Game, is conveyed effortlessly and his northern accent is replicated quite credibly by the veteran Dubliner. The clash between the two men of similar backgrounds is built up slowly and without fuss, and comes to a head when Clough takes over at Leeds United after Revie becomes England manager.

Timothy Spall as Peter Taylor was a shoe-in merely for his supporting role, something he does very well, rather than his impersonation skills. Not one for the cameras, it's hard to assess how well Taylor is portrayed, but the film gives the impression Clough relied on Taylor very much as a talent spotter, and that his absence from the Leeds United set-up was a significant factor in what transpired.

Clough's family have rejected the depiction in both book and film, and to that extent, we have to take on board the fact that this will displease some Cloughie fans who have idolised him perhaps too much. Nevertheless, subjective as any viewpoint is, this is a film designed primarily to entertain English football fans who remember Clough and those who have only heard of him. How far beyond that market its appeal will stretch is hard to say.

Summary: But what next for Sheen..?