The University of Idaho Argonaut

A victory for all sports fans in the world of movies

Sports movies can be some of the most entertaining, but they can also be some of the worst. For every Major League there are four awful sports movies along the lines of Major League 3.

The major problem for those who direct, produce and act in sports movies is the need to serve many masters. Where a normal movie has to be concerned with a good story, a sports movie not only needs a plot, but a realistic sports feel and some sense of historical accuracy if based on
true events.

A soccer movie not only needs to meet those criteria to succeed in America, but it also needs to be flawlessly executed. Anyone who was involved in the making of “Juwanna Man” had to know the movie was complete garbage, but since the public understands basketball, it was still released.

“Goal! The Dream Begins” was the last true soccer movie to receive notoriety in America and it was horrible (So much so it made me question my loyalty to Newcastle United). It is unfortunate since it is the failure of “Goal!” that prevented “The Damned United” from getting the attention it deserved.

Based on a novel written by David Peace, “The Damned United” is a semi-biographical look at Brian Clough’s time in charge of Leeds United. It is an amazing story, albeit a sensationalized view, of one of the most incredible stories in British football history.

The movie does a fantastic job of telling this story without a need to brush up on the history of the game. While the game of soccer is not explained, a person with no knowledge of Clough will have no problem understanding who
he was.

There are several jumps in time from Clough’s time managing Derby County to his ill-fated reign at Leeds, yet it is not needed for the story to flow. It is clear and paced  well to prevent any confusion.

While the book is unsurprisingly better than the movie, the discrepancy between the two is not that large. Some elements of the book would not translate to the silver screen, but there are no wholesale changes between film and book.

The soccer scenes are true to life, it is fairly accurate in a historical sense and the plot is captivating to soccer and non-soccer fans alike. It is not just a good sports movie, but also a good movie in general.

Michael Sheen portrays the arrogant yet fearful Clough to near perfection, and the resemblances of the actors to some of the players, especially the chap who plays Billy Bremner, is alarmingly good. A special mention has to go to Colm Meaney’s role in the movie. Meaney is probably best known for his work on “Star Trek” as Miles O’Brien, so it was good to see him get another gig.

“The Damned United” is definitely worth checking out over spring break, especially since there are only a handful of copies available for rental in Moscow. The book is great too, but not mandatory reading for watching the film.