A Aposta

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.

This was actually an enjoyable movie to watch, but nothing I would recommend to anyone as a "stand out". The entire movie centres around the pending soccer match between rival pub customers with the winner vanquishing the losers pub for ever.

The central character is the ultimate hero with the customary love interest that bears fruit at the very end of the movie. There are a couple of Cameo appearances from Alan Shearer and James Bond himself to carry some weight to the cast.

Sometimes these sort of movies can be a very enjoyable experience and I probably saw this one on the wrong day (was looking for something more meaty in plot).

It's sort of like a Full Monty crossed with Notting Hill type movie but not as good as either and certainly not as funny.

That said, passes the time when nothing else to do.

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.

Wullie Smith (Max Beesley) is a handicapped young man with a serious trauma: his brother Johnny died when they were young while climbing a mountain because of his fault. He works as a milkman in a tiny city in Scotland and has a crush on Rosemary Bailey (Laura Fraser). However, he is too shy to declare his love to her. Every night, Wullie meets his friends in a pub called `Bennys'. This place is the fruit of a bet made one hundred years ago, against another pub, `Le Bistro'. In that time, their owners firmed a stake: Bennys would never win Le Bistro in one hundred soccer games along one hundred years. The winner of the bet would take possession of both pubs. In the present, Bennys has lost the previous ninety-nine games, and needs desperately to win the last game. I bought this DVD maybe two years ago in a sale offer, and I have not paid attention to it until today. I have just seen it, and it is a delightful and exciting movie. The story is indeed a comedy, but has also drama and romance. The cast has a great performance and makes the viewer cheers in many situations. I am Brazilian, land of the soccer (The British invented this game, and we improved it), and five times world champion, and I love soccer. This movie has absurd, such as the couch, who is handicap, decides the game shooting a penalty in the end of the match, but who is caring to that? The important thing is `the good guys' win `the bad guys', and this is achieved. It is a very funny situation, because in Brazil, we soccer fans have a saying, which is: `Penalty is so important that the president of the club should be responsible for shooting it'. Therefore, for us Brazilians, it is very funny the foregoing mentioned situation. Pierce Brosnan has a surprisingly participation in the end of the story. This film is highly recommended for fans of soccer. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): `A Aposta' (`The Bet')

I am reviewing this film as an ex pat actor from the UK watching it for the first time in Australia.

Initially I thought Max Beesley had a look of Ewan Mcgregar.

His performance is shows that he his equally talented. The selection of cast and music is a typically British gem. I personally love this style of raw talent. Putting Alan Shearer and Sam Fox into the cast is bizarre but work so well.

Pierce Brosnan you are a star. I love your acting and now I am a fan of your producing.

andy@andy-croft.com