The Keeper

Anglo-German production, TV-movie(ish); two-dimensional fare. But the amazing story and a dollop of charm, makes this a hell of a lot better than it should be.

This is a straightforward historical romance. But it's well played by Kross as Trautmann, and Mavor as his wife Margaret. And Henshaw gives a typically excellent performance as plain-speaking, Northern dad.

It should be terrible, but it's a really watchable film, and a very good football film to boot. The CGI recreation of 1950's football stadiums is amazing. It takes dramatic licence, but still brings home the Cup.

It was an absolutely wonderful film, a brilliant story about a tremendous soul who helped to bring people together. Who didn't seem to have a nasty bone in his body and who just seemed to personify dignity and grace, in addition to being a tremendous athlete. The performances by David Cross and John Henshaw were astonishing. Great ensemble cast, wonderful direction, just a really outstanding production

My dad was in the POW camp with Bert and married a local girl (my mum) from Liverpool! I knew they'd had a hard time because my dad was seen as the enemy and my mum as a traitor, but this film is so beautifully told and it brought it home to me! It's both funny and deeply emotional, but most of all it's about reconciliation and acceptance! Obviously there's a little poetic license, but that adds to the film! It had me in tears, Highly recommended!

Quite often in sports biopics, the story far super cedes their sporting achievements. This couldn't be any more true in the case of Bert Trautmann as his fascinating story gets told here; becoming a hero to many Englishman not so long after fighting to kill them.

What this film succeeds in is balancing when the right time for poignancy is and when to include some levity. What lets it down is the pacing. There were a few times where I felt the wrong moments were being drawn out, where more important and interesting moments were being rushed through too quickly.

You don't need to be a football fan to enjoy it, it's a human interest story above all else.

Once again what could have been an excellent film was ruined for me by a script written by people who were not born until decades later. I was growing up in the North of England at that time, and the period covered my childhood and teens. I cannot speak for the men but the F___ word was NEVER used by women or in mixed company at that time NEVER, EVER! The first time I heard used at all I was in my 20's and the user got a severe reprimand. Nor did women at that time discuss sexual matters as freely as the young women in the film. It just wasn't done, was considered 'dirty talk' and the women were considered 'fast'. Otherwise the film was very enjoyable, if a little too manipulative. One encounter left out when Trautmann broke his neck he was being congratulated by Prince Philip after the game, who remarked on the injury as Trautmann was holdng his neck. One thing the filmmakers did get right was the way they showed the football scenes and the way it was back then, when players kept their day jobs, and spectators at local pitches stood to watch the match. There may have been seats, but we could never afford them. When I see the way football has become a huge business today, with astromical salaries, prima donna players, luxury stadiums and changing rooms, somehow I think we lost out and the simple game was better. To summarise, I really would like to see film makers cut down on the use of offensive language, particularly in flims set before the 21st century.