The Match

Scottish milkman Wuille's life is in a bit of turmoil. His sweetheart has returned to the village and his local pub is at risk from being shut down as a result of a century old bet with another pub to win a football match. With his pub's group of thugs seemingly having no chance Wuille decides to move his life on by making his feelings clear to Shelia and coaching his team to victory.

With the success of The Full Monty, everyone wanted to make a British comedy that would cost little but hit big. The Match is one of those attempted clones but it doesn't quite work as well as it could do. The plot is promising but little of it carries through. The subplots and history behind the main characters isn't really followed – for example the loss of Wuille's brother or the relationship with Shelia, neither are fully explored.

The comedy is of the amusing but not hilarious type with some good characters but nothing to write home about. There are no jokes that really stand out and rather the film has a general air of being bemused rather than funny. It all makes for a watchable film that will quickly fade from your memory. The use of music makes it feel like every other Brit comedy of recent memory, the tunes of nice but it just sticking to the formula and shows no real evidence of invention.

The cast are OK but don't really stand out, they are all pretty average. Beesley is an average lead but love interest Blair does little but look pretty (although she does do it well!). Grant is camp and OTT but is good value. The cast of the two pubs are easily drawn comedy characters but none of the cameos really work. Sam Fox is nice to look at but does nothing, Shearer is simply pointless, Ian Holm is miscast but Brosnan is reasonable as he appears to be mocking his involvement a little!

It doesn't really work but the gentle air of predictable amusement is just enough to make this light enough to pass 90 minutes. Just don't expect anything more than that – there is a reason why this was not a global sleeper hit.

Now this one is a remarkable little gem. The plot is very sympathetic, it has no great ambitions to prove it's a box-office topper, it has a kindness and warmth many a film lack these days, or even, I dare say, these decades. This film is proof that we still need a British film industry, for it has a very strong cast, a very well-written script, and very human elements to deal with. The film really aims at your heart and hits. It's funny, it's real, it is alive. The British these days are really very good at making films that are about all things human but which are not boring; this one is a very good example of it along with Notting Hill, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, and The Full Monty (yes, NH is actually US-backed, but it is typically English). When Americans try to be this life-like, the result is as boring as Dancer, Texas, pop. 81. I had just picked this one up for it starred Max Beesley that I had liked at the TV series Tom Jones and the ever-charming Richard E. Grant. I am very pleased that I made a very right decision not only for the two were great to watch -especially Beesley proves he is a very good and versatile actor and he manages a near-perfect West of Scotland accent unlike Richard E. Grant- but for it is a very good film as well. The acting's brilliant, the main event so small and unimportant that it proves life is not actually about saving the world from great enemies of humanity but is a structure made out of small, delightful and not-so-delightful elements; and that love, friendship, competition, are all nice, human desires and are there to be shared. This is one hell of a feel-good film and I hope anyone seeing this review will watch it. It'll make you feel good and human, too. This is the very film if you're feeling bored of all the Cruises, Damons, Willises of Hollywood, for it proves how you can be a very good actor and still not play-act as well. I definitely recommend this to anyone who still thinks cinema is about things human and not necessarily expensive and superhuman/surreal/ridiculous.

Although this is clearly low budget, and full of sports clichés (also a goofy plot idea), the music is wonderful, and I thoroughly enjoyed the show. The opening scene to "Hot Love" by T Rex hooked me, and the scene of the underdog team taking the field is also a delight. "FBI" by The Shadows is a musical treasure! I rarely notice music in movies, but this show had me checking all the musical credits at the end. The love story is more than a bit juvenile, but again it is well-intended, and it did not detract from the story. Sometimes coarse language will put off some viewers, but this is still a good-hearted movie. "Fever Pitch" is of course a better soccer show, and this will never be remade as a baseball show, but you do not need to be a soccer fan to enjoy it.

It's undeniable that this kind of plot was worked and reworked in many movies but "The Match" has a wonderful locale and a decent cast (also starring the American Tom Sizemore). The team of misfits subject is here handled focusing on quirky characters and on a romantic basis (Willie is still in love with his childhood friend Rosemary). This small-town comedy - with a little Pierce Brosnan cameo - dealing with the underdog theme and the football/soccer popularity, could somehow remind other working class stories but it's completely different from Ken Loach pictures because is less centered on social problems and more on a melhancoly atmosphere. However it works

The Match is a comedy in the same vein as The Full Monty. It falls short of the latter in terms of sustained laugh-aloud comedy but has a naive sweetness and a fairly exciting footballing climax.

The calibre of the cast is excellent - perhaps to the film's ultimate detriment - and the plot both light and fantastic. The comedy remains constant but never belly-wrenching; the romance sweet but never Romeo & Juliet-threatening; and the football match climax enjoyable but never over-whelming.

Having said all that, the film feels like it might have worked more successfully as an out and out kids' movie. The comedy is fairly accessible (if a little UK-specific) and the sporting battle widely appealing to children. Add to this cameos from England's most famous footballer and one of the world's biggest stars (I'm not spoiling the surprise) and there is much to be said in favour of this small, enjoyable film.