** Mild spoilers(?) ** Not being a fan of "football" (soccer to me), maybe I'm missing the point on this one, but I came away from this indie film with the strong sense that it wasn't quite sure what it was supposed to be about. Is it the meaning of life? The fanaticism of football fans? Our own personal obsessions? I'm not sure, and I don't think the writer or director knew either.
On the one hand, the leads give strong, memorable and lively performances, and the movie certainly has its funny moments. I would love to see what they could do with a stronger script and better character development. Certainly Warren Brown evokes sympathy for a rather unlikable - and uneven - obsessive character (Wigsy) who has major impulse control issues.
On the other hand, this movie sort of moves along like Cliff's unreliable van - stopping, starting, sputtering, slamming into things and characters, before eventually dying entirely.
I could also have done without the Scorcese-like level of profanity, particularly the use of the "f" word, which, to these characters (and apparently the scriptwriter) is used like punctuation. I didn't bother counting, but it's possible that, had this movie been longer, it could have rivaled "The Departed" for most profanity used in a movie. Dear script writer: We get it. The characters are stressed. Use your imagination and expand your vocabulary.
5 stars out of 10 - fine actors, interesting premise, and potential wasted.
On the one hand, the leads give strong, memorable and lively performances, and the movie certainly has its funny moments. I would love to see what they could do with a stronger script and better character development. Certainly Warren Brown evokes sympathy for a rather unlikable - and uneven - obsessive character (Wigsy) who has major impulse control issues.
On the other hand, this movie sort of moves along like Cliff's unreliable van - stopping, starting, sputtering, slamming into things and characters, before eventually dying entirely.
I could also have done without the Scorcese-like level of profanity, particularly the use of the "f" word, which, to these characters (and apparently the scriptwriter) is used like punctuation. I didn't bother counting, but it's possible that, had this movie been longer, it could have rivaled "The Departed" for most profanity used in a movie. Dear script writer: We get it. The characters are stressed. Use your imagination and expand your vocabulary.
5 stars out of 10 - fine actors, interesting premise, and potential wasted.