Things to Do Before You're 30

I'm a Billie Piper fan and really wanted to see this when I found out it was coming out in the UK. It was hard to find it on at a local cinema but I'm glad I did. I read the bad reviews in the newspapers but I wanted to see it for myself and make up my own mind. OK it's not brilliant but I enjoyed watching it. It's certainly not as bad as the reviews made it out to be. I remember hating Love Actually and this film is better than that. It takes a while to get going as there's a lot of characters to establish but I was actually moved by the final scene which helps explains the bond between the male characters (which was a nice surprise as the film was marketed as a cheerful comedy in the poster I saw). And Billie Piper is still great!

I'll be 30 tomorrow, so I thought it would be a nice idea to check out this movie! That was the main reason why I watched it!:) It's not bad, half comedy, half drama, it tells us a story of a small group of men which play football together since they were young boys. We see their desires and hopes and how they relate as friends. The football is always a "scenario" to the plot as it's not really about football, but about friendship and people's feelings and relationships instead.

Not being a great movie (I think it's not its purpose anyway), it's entertaining and good enough. It also has some funny scenes, with good jokes, not in a large number, but enough to a comedy-drama... I score it 6/10.

Well, while watching the first 10-15 minutes of the film I thought I was going to watch an "American Pie" movie: Stupid characters, a downfall of sexual gags and nothing more. Surprisingly, I found a serious film (with some jokes) about the sense of life and the decisions to make when people grow old. In 1983, a football team called Athletic Greenwich was created. After 20 years, the team still exists and it has the same players, which, of course, are older (they are going to be 30 early). All of them have changed a lot and have a life outside the team, but football still keep them together. Everyone has his problems and all of them have decided to leave the team, but, knowing they are going to play the match 500, they all decide to play it. This will cause all the problems to explode and lives are going to change for everyone, after discovering what they want to do in the rest of their lives. Good story, with well built characters, all of the different and with their particular (and usual) problems. The story is also well written and the story keeps being interesting during all the time. Maybe it is not a masterpiece, but it is much better than expected.

This British comedy-drama story handles strong themes like growing up and friendship but has troubles keeping the tone right, though it gets to touch effectively, with many plot threads, life's important issues in a natural setting. Characters are certainly realistic and some darker elements are also shown in the plot. The comedy is focused on embarrassment, innuendo and humiliation but it lacks a bit in liveliness. The brilliant performances are undermined by this shortage in vivacity, so that they end up being (at least seeming) a little contrived. There are several plot lines but in the end both humor and drama are not that powerful. To sum up good idea, a good introduction but also some boredom.

The title interested me, but i found the film to be a big disappointment. I imagined the film would be about mountain climbing, skydiving and other things like that. In fact the film is about relationships, and preparing for football (amateur soccer) matches. So don't be misled.

It also seems to me to be made for a specific audience, the inhabitants of South-East England. I say that mainly because of the attitudes of the characters to life and what is important.

I found it too boring and depressing to watch in one session, so I ended up watching it in installments.

I was impressed by the acting, especially Emilia Fox who seems much too good for this sort of thing.

My advice, give this film a miss, you'll be less depressed if you do.