The Beautiful Game
Perhaps it is not so shocking that filmmakers have taken twenty years to come up with a gripping tale, or rather “an underdog story”, based on the annual coed sport event called the Homeless World Cup, a weeklong service of soccer players in the streets.
It’s a strong feel good movie directed by Thea Sharrock and authored by Frank Cottrell Boyce, this being its second outing after 2012, whose title says everything and centers on the game. To say that the varying physical conditions of the players is completely brushed aside however would be misleading. Nathan (Callum Scott Howells), who is still on a treatment program for rehabilitation from drugs, has a particularly difficult time. Instead the focus is in play and raising spirits. The classic Mediterranean weather of Rome where the action in the movie takes place more than does justice to its presentation.
Mal, the manager and team coach for England, portrayed by the great Bill Nighy, one day notices Vinny (Micheal Ward) demonstrating to the very young players on how to play the game. Vinny has the flair for the game, but Mal appears to see more in him than talent. He even intuits correctly that Vinny is virtually living in his vehicle.
Although the author, Boyce, has been accustomed to more daring works (see the “Tristram Shandy,” published in 2006) than this, this is a rather standard tale. Here, while Boyce takes a detour from some of the played-out tropes, he does not do so with others. That is, when Ellie (Jessye Romeo) who previously partnered with Vinny and was always left unhappy tells him that no, he is not going to be present for the event in school of their daughter in whichever way they plan to structure that conversation, instead of seeking to structure that conversation, that is exactly what Vinny does. In fact, that is what Vinny did, boasting that he could not refuse Mal’s pitch and would indeed go to Rome even when he was extremely resistant to the idea.
As one such that contains funny and inspiring scenes such as the entertaining manner in which the South African team is given a makeup game after their airport delay, “The Beautiful Game” is what a contemporary “nice” film should look like.
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