Review of The Damned United (2009) by Daniel G — 04 May 2011

I found the first movie of The King's Speech director to be a very entertaining story about the platonic relationship between two men disguised as a tale of how bitterness and blind ambition can corrupt the mind of a football manager.

Michael Sheen proved once again that he is one of the top character actors around at the moment, embodying Brian Clough to perfection with a determination and egotistical manner which must have been quite an intimidating character to be surrounded by, while Hooper creates a wonderful atmosphere of 1970s Northern England.

The film zips along at a pace with numerous recognisable English actors all playing their part, but Sheen is certainly the star of the show, and his relationship with Timothy Spall character is engrossing to watch as it deteriorates between them.

It is also a very insightful examination of how an egotistical mind can cloud what at first appear rock solid relationships, and how Sheen struggles to overcome his obsessions. So while on the surface it may appear to be a sports biography, it is in fact not the conventional genre film at all, but much more a character study of a particular type of mind, and it was entralling from beginning to end.