Review of Green Street Hooligans (2005) by Laura H — 30 Mar 2010

Ok, before I start this, I really don't wanna offend anyone so I'm just gonna say, before this movie I didn't know anything about "firms" or "hooliganism" other than that they existed, so for all I know everyting in this movie could be made up. Also, I haven't seen "The Firm" or "The Football Factory" either so I can't really compare them. Ok, fair enough? Well, then let's go to the actual movie now.

I must say I actually enjoyed this quite a bit. Yeah, ok maybe some things in the story were a little predictable. And I really have to keep myself from putting in major spoilers here. But I still thought it was believable and moving and very interesting to watch. The fight scenes were very brutal, yes, but they served a purpose and it didn't seem like they were only put in because they looked cool or just for people who like to watch fight scenes, but they actually contributed to the story. Charlie Hunnam and all his other "bruvs" were really great. One person I could do without: Claire Forlani. I don't know if it was Claire Forlani or her character that really annoyed me, but somewhere in there she did. And why they chose a British actress to play an American woman who lives in England is beyond me, but that doesn't matter so much. And Elijah Wood, I thought he was great in Everything is Illuminated but here I just feel like he struggled the whole way through. I think he kind of knew that he wouldn't be able to pull off the transformed-tough-fighter Matt and was trying so much harder to prove everyone wrong that he could play roles other than Frodo. And somehow in the end, he doesn't completely pull it off. But he's not actually bad or anything and he certainly doesn't derail from the enjoyment of the movie. Overall I have to say I really enjoyed this movie and would recommend it.