Mike Bassett: England Manager digs out every footballing stereotype and cliché ever known to man, but is executed amusingly and actually quite pertinently with a wonderful central performance from Ricky Tomlinson. Shot in a mockumentary style, akin to "This Is Spinal Tap", it's never as funny as Rob Reiner's masterpiece, but will certainly keep most football fans laughing for it's duration.
Mike Bassett is the last throw of the dice for the England team. He is an old-fashioned manager, who writes his team selection on the back of a cigarette packet and loves the 4-4-2 formation. With England's team comes the playboy, the striker out of form, the wonderfully gifted yet socially reckless playmaker and the psychopathic captain. Bassett also has to deal with the unforgiving press and having his son teased at school.
There are some wonderful moments in it, most of which will be lost on anyone who doesn't watch football. Highlights include an ill-fated trip to a sports science centre and Basset almost losing his job over a drunken spectacle in a bar. It's not brilliant, and won't stand the test of time. But it certainly has it's moments, and does what is required of it. Only in England could you make something as cynically amusing as this.
Mike Bassett is the last throw of the dice for the England team. He is an old-fashioned manager, who writes his team selection on the back of a cigarette packet and loves the 4-4-2 formation. With England's team comes the playboy, the striker out of form, the wonderfully gifted yet socially reckless playmaker and the psychopathic captain. Bassett also has to deal with the unforgiving press and having his son teased at school.
There are some wonderful moments in it, most of which will be lost on anyone who doesn't watch football. Highlights include an ill-fated trip to a sports science centre and Basset almost losing his job over a drunken spectacle in a bar. It's not brilliant, and won't stand the test of time. But it certainly has it's moments, and does what is required of it. Only in England could you make something as cynically amusing as this.