Mike Bassett: England Manager DVD > Reviews > From rags to riches tale

Author's product rating:   

Did you enjoy it?	Liked it
Story	Satisfactory
Characters / Performances	Good
Special Effects	Unmemorable
How does it compare to similar films?	Good

Advantages:	light - heartd fun if you are a footie fan
Disadvantages:	slow

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

One of the biggest films of the moment – but not really for you unless you’re into football. Mike Bassett – England manager is at times very funny but at other times the film is awfully slow and waiting to burst into life then it suddenly ends.

The film itself stars Ricky Tomlinson as Mike Bassett and is set against the background of the need for a new England manager who is then followed round like a fly on the wall documentary.

Faced with the need to hire a new manager the FA sit round their table and come up with names. No-one from the Premier League or Europe wants the job so they are left to grab Mike Bassett – Norwich manager and recent cup winner at Wembley. Tomlinson is joined by Bradley Walsh for his coaching skills in the game. They turn out to be woeful which just adds to the film.

After taking the job he is followed everywhere by Martin Bashir for what is a sort of documentary type programme. Everyone is astounded that Bassett is picked to be manager and the film gets going. Bassett looks to pick his own little team and stick to his tactics.

It’s at this point that the film becomes more football orientated really with him attending countless press conferences and the obvious losses in so-called easy games. This is the backbone to the film as England just about qualify for the world cup thanks to Luxembourg and they fly off to Brazil. The world cup song is recorded of course which sees a guest appearance from Atomic Kitten and a predictably awful song for football. In saying that – what football song has really been good unless John Barnes spins his disk?

A quick word with Pele at the world cup scene sets it off well but the film drags a bit and switches between games then press conferences. It gets a tad predictable is all I’ll say. The trailer many will see is a two minute bleep machine for a half time team talk when the team is really on the rack which I personally found really funny.

Bassett takes a good kicking at all the press conferences with Phil Jupitus being the main journalist doing the kicking. The pressure hits Bassett hard and a few flicks back home show his wife leaving him for pastures new. Faced with the pressure Bassett let’s himself go for a night and is caught on film getting well drunk. Calls for his resignation become louder and in the face of defeat he makes a hug speech, carries on and England progress in the world cup. They don’t win it but return home heroes all the same at which point Bassett is greeted by his wife and he carries on managing England.

A somewhat predictable film at times which is a bit slow but it’s also quite funny seeing all the journalist bits and the team talks. It’s very typical of the British press this film and it seeks to show this up in a big way. This is shown big time when Jupitus makes the decision to be a binman if England qualified for the latter stages. I personally enjoyed the laugh although its not the greatest film in the world I must say but good light-hearted fun.