The Damned United

I am not a sports film fan; I don’t even like sports, but what I do like are brilliant performances and images being captured on camera. After viewing The Damned United, I gained a strong appreciation for soccer and those behind the scenes. The film is loosely based upon the life and exploits of Brian Clough, the flamboyant football manager who went from coaching the working class County Darby League to heading Leeds United in the early stages of the 1974 season. The driving ambition and headstrong attitude brings Clough into becoming both a stubborn man destined to win for the sake of winning and an icon in English Football.

The Damned United is directed by the damn-brilliant Tom Hooper (Elizabeth I and John Adams). Hooper’s use of close-ups and static camera captures working-class England with an eye similar the social-realist auteurs of the Nineteen-Sixties, like John Schlesinger and Ken Loach, blended with stock footage that doesn’t leave you with the impression that you’re watching a documentary. Peter Morgan has had a series of successful screenwriting credits (The Queen, Last King of Scotland, and Frost/Nixon) and continues with his use of comedy and revealing telephone conversations, which flesh out the characters.

Michael Sheen can be the sweetest guy you ever saw, or the biggest jerk you ever laid eyes upon. Either way, he still leaves you smiling when the credits roll and his portrayal of Brian Clough is of no exception when he portrays him as a family man, a coach, and lover of the press. Timothy Spall delivers a stunning performance as Clough’s long-time friend and partner, Peter Taylor, who enjoys the fun of the game and the work he does. Rounding up the stellar cast are Colm Meaney and Jim Broadbent with their subduing, yet fierce, performances.

The Damned United is a fresh sigh of relief that segues from the discontented autumn of generic Halloween films and not-so-funny weekend flicks and entering the most ambitious time of year, awards season.