Un but pour la gloire

9/13 12:45 pm A SHOT AT GLORY (***)

Well-made but conventional sports drama. Long on well-filmed Scottish football scenes, short on emotional impact. Director Michael Corrente introduced the film and returned with stars Robert Duvall and Ally McCoist for the Q & A. The Q & A was brief but it was revealed that all the actors were actual football players, which accounts for the lack of characterization in the story.

So bad it's good, but so bad it is. Duvall is how I would imagine the late Bill Shankly would sound if you had slipped him a mickey containing LSD. How a great actor of his stature came to be in this turkey can only be attributed to his legendary drinking sessions with Jimmy Johnstone going beyond the wee small hours and into the twilight zone.

Surprisingly the cheeky chappie and rookie actor, ex Rangers player Ally McCoist is not as excruciating to watch as others who should know better in this. Michael Keaton looks as stunned as a cow on a quiz show, as he tries to work out what the hell is going on here.

I laughed when I'm sure I wasn't meant to and for the rest of the movie my toes curled so much that I got cramp.

In the name of the beautiful game, avoid this like the plague.

Watched this on a recommendation from a friend (a rangers fan) and was surprised that i actually enjoyed the movie. Being a Scot a lot of the football footage, the players and stadiums were familiar and even sometimes it was hard to tell that a lot of it was computer generated, in fact it was better done than Sky Ones Dream Team! Tell me was it Cliftonhill that Kilnochie are meant to be based? The fact that many of the players were in fact footballers made it more realistic to watch unlike Dream TEam where its all just actors I found it both funny and good that McCoist was an ex Celtic player and i was pleased how he hated that sectarian hatred in the Old Firm. References to 'its only a game' was just what this country needs and i admire his bravery in taking upon a role that saw him (albeit superimposed) in a Celtic shirt when he is a Rangers legend.

Anyway once i got over some of the dodgy accents (and what would the English guy know about Scots accents Wolfman?) i really enjoyed the movie, any football fan can relate to the fans and i just loved the guy that could just not watch the game, we have all been there! Its all about the underdogs the Scottish Cup and the movies name reflects this. The romance of the cup, the days out, the buzz in the town, its all captured terrifically and being a fan of a 2nd division team i know! All in all a good film and recommended, especially to fans of the bigot brothers where religion has no place in this film. You may just enjoy it!

I just saw this movie on TV, and watched mainly for the appearance of Michael Keaton, one of my favorite actors, who always does a great job, whether in a comedy or a drama. This film is well worth watching, in particular for Robert Duvall's performance, and his mastery of the Scottish accent. When I first heard him speak I had to look twice, to be sure it was "himself". What a heartwarming, and exciting film it is! Even if you're not a soccer fan, there is plenty of action, along with the heart and humor. Most entertaining.

If I was an American living in America with maybe a passing interest in Football or Soccer as they tend to call it, then this movie might pass as pretty good entertainment, but being Scottish and loving football since I could walk and talk I found this film to be absolute rubbish. Robert Duvall is a fantastic actor but he is hindered here by his awful attempt at a Scottish accent, couldn't he have just played it in his normal voice. Maybe they could have come out with some sort of explanation why an American would end up managing a Scottish team that would have been been easier to swallow than his Hey Jimmy! Och aye the Noo dialect. Also as a Celtic supporter you would expect me to be ready to crucify Ally McCoist's acting since he used to play for Rangers, but actually he is by far and away the best thing in the film! He's actually pretty good! Sadly the footage they used of his days with Celtic ( he's wearing his Rangers strip coloured green! ) is awful. Actually nearly everything in this film is awful, it was a very, very bad idea from the beginning. Also why is a great actor like Michael Keaton doing in this, he is wasted in a small role, was he just doing a favour for Duvall? I must say though the actual football matches were pretty well done, much better than the likes of Escape to Victory or any other football movie. ***3/10***