Review of Bend It Like Beckham (2002) by Brandon W — 09 Jan 2017

After recently watching The Mighty Ducks, I decided to re-watch another sports film from my childhood. Being Canadian, I obviously watched hockey, but my sport that I played growing up was soccer. People still tell me that I should have still been playing.

While I do miss it, I am still able to watch Germany play in the World Cup and can bring another level of interest to a film about soccer, like Bend It Like Beckham. What I like about this sports story is that it doesn't follow the old cliche about the team that sucks and through teamwork and compassion, they win the championship, this film is all about family and culture.

Is it more important to keep your elders happy by following tradition and cultural rituals and lifestyles? Or do you break away from that to have what you want? Now, I'm not Indian so I can't say that I have lived in the same scenario, but this film does a great job with the relationship between Jes and her parents.

It is acted so well and... it's hard to describe but you really feel that there are different layers of trust between the three of them. The mother and the father have a certain understanding with each other but the parents both have their reasons for protecting Jes.

It's hard to explain but you understand where the parents are coming from. They are not simply written as evil parents who don't want their daughter having fun. As for the other characters, they are all written really well.

Every character is interesting and has their own stories and struggles. Keira Knightley and her story are interesting and so is the coach's story (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) The script is so tight. Not a single scene is wasted.

This film also rides the barrier between serious family drama and comedy extremely well. There are some great comedic moments in this film with great timing. Overall, this is a great film for everyone! Check it out!