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The Damned United
Rating: 6/10
Cast: Michael Sheen, Timothy Spall, Jim Broadbent,
Colm Meaney
Director: Tom Hooper
While top-drawer films about sport are few and far between, it's
fair to say that top-drawer
films about football are as rare
as a successful World Cup qualifying campaign by the All
Whites.
But just as Shane Smeltz and co are having a "maybe-this-time"moment, so too can football-enthusiast cinema fans with the release of BBC Films' The Damned United.
Like the dark and controversial fact-meets-fiction novel on which it's based, the movie tells the story of the late Brian Clough (Michael Sheen), long considered the greatest manager the English football team never had.
Alternatively focusing on Clough's disastrous 44 days in charge of the 1974 Leeds United team, and the six or seven years leading up to him taking the job, The Damned United tries, with some success, to illustrate his charisma and uniquely eccentric style, but also his profound flaws.
At its heart is the tale of Clough's relationship with two men: Don Revie (Colm Meaney) his methodical predecessor at Leeds; and Peter Taylor, his loyal assistant (played by Timothy Spall)
As the lowly Derby County manager, Clough initially holds Revie in high regard but a visit from Revie's championship winning side soon turns respect into indignation - and then to obsession as he strives to outdo his nemesis; first with Taylor at Derby, before going it alone in the-house-that-Don-built.
Clough's unusual motivational style can't work its magic and we see an increasingly neutered and isolated figure as the Yorkshire days slip by.
The team that put The Damned United together have form. Screenwriter Peter Morgan scored a box office hit with The Queen and Kiwi movie-goers will be familiar with Michael Sheen's talent for impersonations-with-soul after his celebrated turns as Tony Blair in that film and more recently as David Frost in Frost/Nixon.
This time though, their adventure in 'faction' doesn't quite ring true. The dialogue lapses into clichéd football-speak a little too often and the film struggles to get to the heart of what made Clough tick. Sheen's performance captures the mannerisms and charm of his subject but comes across a tad superficial, only hinting at the paranoia detailed in the coruscating novel where Clough was portrayed as an alcoholic sociopath.
I also suspect that the story will matter little to anyone who hasn't got the foggiest who Brian Clough or Don Revie are - something that will surely apply to much of the potential audience away from European shores. Despite the wisdom of focusing on action off the pitch, it's hard to imagine anyone who doesn't relish the grimy workmanlike atmosphere of 1970s British football getting too much out of it. Raging Bull it isn't.
That's not to say there's nothing here to enjoy. As you'd expect from the BBC, the period is recreated with a flourish. Massive collars and garish wallpapers battle for space with grainy archive footage. The players appear suitably grizzled for a time when pre-match dinner was pie with chips and the post-match warm-down was a pint and five fags.
Jim Broadbent offers good value as the long-suffering Derby chairman, while Clough's frequent one-to-one TV interviews are also recreated in authentically sparse detail providing some genuine tension at either end of the film.
Most importantly, the fragile-bond between Clough and Taylor (a typical subtle Timothy Spall) is nicely handled, illustrating the depth of feeling that ran between two very different men who knew how desperately they needed each other to succeed.
Unfortunately, these positives aren't enough to save The Damned United from feeling more like a top-notch Sunday night television drama than fare for the big-screen.
As football films go it's a 5-0 hammering of weak opposition. As
a piece of cinema though, you'd rate it a 1-1 draw against a team
you'd hope to beat. Not a bad result but not a great one
either.
