The Penalty King

I was fortunate to see this film at a special preview at Elland Road and what a treat. Chris Cook (The director) has used real life experience and his love of Leeds United to create a special low budget cult film. From the early stages you can see his dry sense of humour and slightly twisted view of the world is reflected brilliantly by the means of witty replies and humours profanity. Penalty King follows the life a Lee a die hard Leeds fan who has recently lost his sight to illness and works in a dead end job at the social services cleaning second hand disability equipment. Apart from watching his beloved Leeds all Lee would like to do again is "have a good dam kick about" some thing not possible since the loss of his sight, but with the help of Charlie his eccentric American colleague can Lee once again live the dream and become the penalty king?

A must see for all Leeds fans or anyone who has a passion for a football club, works in a dead end job, played Sunday morning football or just enjoys a film with wall to wall laughs

Be warned though if you are offended by strong profanity this film might not be for you

OK, so a blind guy who wants to play football.... not the most obvious set up in the world... and funnily enough this isn't the most predictable of films. However, The Penalty King strangely enough takes this scenario and gives you something genuinely relatable. A ramshackle social services department is the site of the 'action' which, with the help of a spot on script- will have you squirming on your sofa,wringing your hands and wincing in perverse delight as you witness the all too familiar scene of arbitrary office politics laid out in front of you. Chris Cook finds comedy, not only in the places where other people wouldn't look, but in the places where other people wouldn't want to look. A refreshing film that takes an honest view at the other side of life and comes up with some surprises... some very surprising surprises at times... Get the DVD. watch it. then revel in the delight of your own -relatively- comfortable existence...

I was fortunate enough to see this movie at a 'Premier' in the writer/directors home town of Brighton. Whilst I have to say that the home town ambiance added to the occasion, the viewing experience was often an uncomfortable one and not quite what I had expected from a football-comedy-drama. What is evident is that said writer/ director Chris Cook has a real talent. For a movie made on such a low budget and with a procession of technical operators, his ability to maintain a consistent atmosphere and tempo is a tribute to a skill honed on more modest offerings, but showcased brilliantly here in his first feature. This epic project took some 8 years to reach fruition, and his desire to complete it is clearly due to his obvious love for both Sunday football and Leeds United FC. It probably doesn't pay to wonder quite what drives Cooks mind as the darker corners of this movie are really unsavoury places to be. After all, a film about a blind Sunday league footballer who works in a social services disabled equipment loan store and supports Leeds United is not that grim a premise (is it?). But don't buy this movie expecting a Bend it Like Beckham or One Jimmy Grimble, or you will be in for quite a shock.

Cook elicits consistent performances from a cast of principally unknown, and in some cases never-to-be-seen-again actors, sprinkled with a few 'names' and familiar faces from TV and film. A feisty Claire Grogan brings added cache to the piece as the overtly dominant boss of the loan store, the only down side being the inevitable references to her previous work, and trust me this is no Gregory's Girl. But to be fair any contrived comparison to one of the best football comedies ever made is none the less flattering.

If I have to be critical of the film, the script often lacked direction and the sub-plots were inconclusive and at times superfluous. For a comedy film it lacked humour and often lazily reverted to cliché and profanity, but some of the set pieces were laugh-out-loud funny which was consolation indeed. Again on the plus side the soundtrack was fantastic and really kept things going when the pace looked like flagging. It's well known that Tarantino selects his soundtrack before the first line of the script gets written and this could have been the case here, so strong and relevant was the music choice. Also the lighting, editing and camera-work particularly in the 'darker' scenes belied the low budget and again demonstrate Chris Cook's skills as a movie maker. I hope the film gains cult status and allows us to see Cook behind a camera again sometime soon, I will wager that he ventures into horror in the near future, which with his record may be some ten years away, but if that's how long it takes I will be first in line to watch, I am already a fan.

First off the mark, I am not a Footie Fan. I don't have a passion for it. Saying that, I found "The Penalty King" to be an excellent movie. The characters portrayed so many personalities that I have encountered in the Social Services and are True to life. It is filled with a sense of humour that most people would understand. I laughed so hard in places throughout the film but I also liked the fact that the film had a true sense of ordinary people. For those reasons alone it's a must see film.

Reading the other comments I don't feel it necessary to give any brief synopsis of the plot but would like to say that Chris Cook is one Writer/Director that everyone should look out for as his vision and passion for film making shines on the big screen. I sincerely hope that "The Penalty King" gets the recognition it deserves and I will personally look forward to Chris Cook's next project.

Excellent film with excellent acting.

It's a film that I would never get bored of watching and I would Love to own a DVD of it but in the meantime I will recommend it to all my friends.

The Penalty King tells the story of Lee who is a blind football fan, and his friend Charlie and how he gets Lee to love the Beautiful game again! I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed the Penalty King, as usually a film about football would not be my first choice, but I think this film would appeal to football fans and non fans, as it is a strong character driven piece with a great, and very humorous in places script.

Though the film is of a lower budget, it has a high quality feel to it,by using lots of shooting locations,past Leeds games footage, and a good use of soundtrack.

Overall I found the Penalty King to be a funny uplifting movie, which is made more enjoyable by the buddy relationship between the central characters Lee and Charlie.