Best

There are two big problems with this 2000 film, as viewed in 2013. One is that the life story of George Best (1946 - 2005) is now complete and that the final years (liver disease, sobriety, transplant, relapse into alcohol, death and national outpouring of grief) must be covered in any Bestie biopic.

The other is the casting of John Lynch as Best. Although he is reasonable as the saddened boozed-up older Best at the start and end of the film, the same actor cannot be used as the teenage phenomenon who burst onto the scene in the early 1960s and created the blueprint for the 'pop star' footballer, using his charm and good looks to endorse products (yes he did advertise sausages), open shops and do modelling.

With those two points out of the way, and they are substantial, the rest of the film isn't too bad. I liked the contemporary music (Good Vibrations, Green Onions, In a Broken Dream) but Cockney Rebel was a strange choice for the Northern Irishman. Maybe a bit of Thin Lizzie's Whiskey in the Jar would have suited better for the end credits. The major achievements of his career (1966 v Benfica, 1968 European Cup) are highlighted, though there's no mention of the league title they won in 1967. The almost equally famous team-mates Bobby Charlton, Denis Law, Nobby Stiles, Paddy Crerand are there, even though Tony Dunne appears to have lost his first name. The important father figures of Matt Busby and real dad Dickie Best are there too.

Linus Roche is particularly good as the practical joking Denis Law though Jerome Flynn not as good as hypochondriac Bobby Charlton. Patsy Kensit is surprisingly wooden as, I assume, a random girlfriend. Stephen Fry is another National Treasure but that doesn't mean that he should be shoehorned into every British film, nor that a film is necessarily improved by his inclusion.

This film really lost its way about fifty minutes in. The pace really slowed and it became difficult to watch. Did we really need to see stupid drunken conversations with his mates? However, it was good to see him put six goals past Northampton after a six-week lay-off. That did really happen, though the primal scream that follows in the film did not.

Where was Angie Best in all this? The American years? The international matches? The attempted come-backs at Fulham, Bournemouth, Stockport and Hibs? And the conversation with the deceased Matt Busby - oh dear! Overall, there needs to be a decent movie about George but this isn't it.

As a Manchester United FC fan, I eagerly awaited the release of this picture. What a disappointment! It focuses on George Best's addictions to gambling, womanising and alcohol with a lets-get-out-the-violins perspective. The errors in the plot were glaring, for example, John Lynch (Best) is not the petite build his character was. The only actor to come out with credit was Linus Roache as Denis Law. But the director's habit of missing out years between scenes left me confused as to where it was up to. I should have liked this movie (I was in the crowd at Old Trafford when they shot one of the scenes) but I didn't - I was glad when the credits rolled.

This is dreadful. Jon Lynch is not handsome enough to play the part of George Best. We see nothing of the wit of the real character - merely a paranoid alcoholic. This film doesn't capture the soul of George Best at all. I am sure even ardent fans of Man United (which I am not) will find this film appalling. It's time to do a newer version now that the real George has passed away. With regard to other characters in the film, Linus Roache does a passable Denis Law, Ian Bannen is convincing as Matt Busby and Jerome Flynn is a good enough Bobby Charlton. One thing I found laughable though was that the same actor played the barman and Tommy Docherty - once with a wig, the other time without. Did they not have enough money to pay two actors ?

Best is a very very boring film. There isn't any reason to watch it: even if you like football you are not interested in this character (I mean just the movie character, not the real George Best). You can't understand, during the film, the reason of his alcohol addiction, of his rebellion to every rules... So this George Best looks like a dumb guy, a star without a brain, able just to throw away all he owns.

Even the other characters are just masks: the good trainer and the bad trainer, the girl who tries to exploit him and the football player who hates him just because he is, above all, the best.

I think that both writers and director thought that would be very simple make a movie from a famous and scandalous football player as George Best, but movies are different from real life. It's not enough saying: things went this way. You might create something different...

I hope to see, soon, a good film about football.

Being a Man United fan probably makes me a bit biased on the subject of George Best.Hence the views expressed herein would not befit those going to watch a film to entertain them.

Although the movie's attempt has been made to please audiences with no taste for the game of football(soccer)it still has a fair amount of jargon on the game.I am afraid that someone in the States or any other country which football is not prominent or not as popular will never have heard of Manchester United least George Best.

In the film we are taken in a roller coaster ride with the life of the very famous Irish lad,Best.Since he arrived at Old Trafford to his last days in the club.At first the film gives you the impression it will show you what made him a legend in his field but slowly we are dragged into his persona and feel as drunk as he is.The overall view of the movie is actually making you sense what the man went through in a life of turmoil and confusion but soon has you displaced somewhere between limbo and Vodka.The acting is slow at times with John Lynch(George Best) as baffled as the part he is playing.Its only when we catch Ian Bannen(Sir Mat Busby)in a scene, that the plot all of a sudden comes alive with some rationality.The direction is erratic at times and we are moved from scene to scene at a hectic pace not really knowing what year all these events are unfolding.Its only those who know the history of the club that have an idea.But as expounded before, Mary McGuckian tries not to indulge the cinema goer with anything to do with the game,only to illustrate what made George Best tick inside.

All in all a poor attempt to portray a living legend without actually showing good coverage of the sport he excelled in.The glimpses we catch him playing,albeit well camouflaged with real shots of Best from afar and close shots of Lynch,are few to analogue his rise and fall.Its only when we see the real thing that we can understand what a genius Best was.

5/10 rating for Best. 10/10 for George Best