Mike Bassett: England Manager

A great piece of work, the men responsible for the movie chose the right attitude by using the angle of comedy, cause that's the only way to make a sports movie, a sports event can never be moved to the screen succesfully (except maybe Chariots of Fire) in a realistic way since the whole idea of it is that you don't have clue who's going to win until it's all over.

Although I'm not from the UK I did get most of the jokes since I follow footie a lot and am a big fan of the game.

a big thumbs up for the crew and actors, "Mike Bassett" is simply brilliant.

Nobody wants the England manager's job so the Football Association appoint Norwich City's Mike Bassett (Tomlinson) mainly on the strength of his team's victory in the third rate Clutch Cup! Bassett might not be the world's most tactically astute manager, but the journeyman ex-player possesses an undoubted love and passion for the beautiful game and an ambition (with the notable influence of Rudyard Kipling) to win the World Cup!!!

Grossly unsubtle and saturating hits on it's obvious targets, MB:EM is nevertheless a frequently likeable, occasionally hilarious and poignantly accurate journey on the roller-coaster that is following an under-achieving football giant towards potential footballing Shangri-La. The barbs against the FA despite being razor sharp become tediously repetitive and the character assassination of Paul Gascoigne verges on slanderous but, despite these qualms, the basic premise and the story's foundations are undeniably heartfelt and evocative: The crap qualifying; the false promise borne from results beyond our control; the singular world-beating performance and the 'bridge to far' appearance against feted opposition. All these elements fit snugly into the mockumentary style and, together with Tomlinson's energetic, frenetic and ultimately sympathetic performance (the 'forlorn loser in the hotel bedroom' scene towards the end is class pathos) create a worthy cinematic addition to our (attempts at) understanding of why twenty two men kicking a sphere around a field might cause us such replete apoplexy!

And it erases When Saturday Comes from the record of last great (!) English football pic!

Mike Bassett:England Manager is a mock documentary about a new England Manager and the trials and tribulations he goes through during qualification and subsiquant world cup in Brazil. There are loads and loads of funny moments in this film and i promise you even if you are not a football fan you will like this a lot. Basically we see Ricky Tomlinson brilliantly playing the new England snatched from the first division as manager of Norwich City into the spotlight.We see all the things that really happen to England managers but exagerated ten fold with very funny consiquences such as the moment he wrote his first England team down on a fag packet and gave it to his P.A to type out for the press , 10 minutes later there were two new players added to the squad.......Benson & Hedges!!. One uncanny thing that does come out of the film is the results in the world cup, England beat Argentina 1-0 and go out of the tournement to Brazil ., exactly what happens a year after the film is made in the real world cup in Japan! 8 out of 10.

This film is almost a remake of the documentary about England's Manager Graham Talyor made during the qualification for the 1994 world cup. It follows a below par manager from the lower leagues who has to take on the England job when no-one else wants it. There are loads of hilarious scenes and those who know football will recognize plenty of characters based on real people in the football world. There are several good performances but Ricky Tomlinson steals the show as Mike Bassett, the part in the film when he loses his temper at half time is hilarious made even funnier as all the bad language is bleeped out and believe me the bleeping is the only thing you hear. Top draw film, one every football fan MUST SEE!!!!!!!!!!

The thing about this film is that although it is obviously an exaggeration of the English soccer scene, it comes perilously close to the truth. It is certainly true that thanks to a ruthless gutter press, the England manager's job is a poisoned chalice, and no one wants it. One can remember how Kevin Keegan was practically forced into the job, a job for which he was ill-suited; and, in fairness to Mr Keegan, he knew it and resigned quite quickly. In this film, in need of an England manager, the Football Association offer the job to a second rater, brilliantly played by Ricky Tomlinson.

The film is full of little exaggerations. There is a quick shot of the back of the English goalkeeper, with an enormous pony tail. And my favourite scene is where the England squad meets the Republic of Ireland team comprising of English players sporting their new Irish accents. And of course the classic scene: Mike Bassett's half-time talk.

This film is brilliantly done. Certainly the best soccer film I have seen.