Review of The Damned United (2009) by Paul W — 29 Jul 2010

I thought football couldn't get any more exciting than watching England and Norway dribble their way to a scoreless draw at Wembley in the late nineties, but how wrong I was. "The Damned United" is probably the most entertaining 90 minutes I will ever have watching the "beautiful game". The split timeline narrative works well, slowly teasing out the story for phillipines like me who have no idea who Brian Clough is, while keeping the drama alive for Footbalistas. The smart choice is in keeping any actual football put of the film - matches are condensed to a series of flashing league tables on the screen, the one exception being a gruelling battle which is cut more like Saving Private Ryan than something you would see on Match of the Day. Instead of watching football on film, we get to focus on the motivations of ambition, a love triangle between two professionals and a rival, and the drama of personal and public failure driven by obsession.

Goal, Goal, Super-goal.