Review of The Damned United (2009) by Nikki K — 01 Mar 2010

Football has been pretty poorly served by the cinema to date and The Damned United goes a long way to rectifying that. A bravura performance from Michael Sheen and a faithful, intelligent screenplay by Peter Morgan combine with a well chosen storyline to deliver a convincing tale. Crucially, this is not a film about football; rather it uses football as a framework for ambition, greed, success, failure, friendship and love.

Brian Howard Clough. "The greatest English manager never to manage the English National side." Whether you agree with that sentiment or not, everybody knows Brian Clough was one of the great personalities of the game. The filmâ??s narrative follows the events preceding and during those fateful 44-days of the former Leeds United manager.

Sheen turns in yet another brilliant performance as the arrogant, stubborn, distant, bitter, intelligent, yet highly flawed man who went on to become a legend in British football. From his mannerisms to his speech, Sheen outwardly projects the personality of Brian Clough to a tee. More importantly, he takes the film away from the touchlines of simply being 'another football film', and instead creates a human drama about one man's battle with jealously, bitterness, and ambition.

While Morgan's script keeps up the dry wit and humour, Hooper's superb direction carries the heavy and colourful imagery of 1960's and 1970's football in Britain through to the end. This film touches on many aspects of Cloughâ??s life from his successful reign at Derby, to his intense rivalry with Revie/Leeds, and his heroic comeback at Nottingham. This movie is a character study of depth and resonance that is beautifully filmed and wonderfully performed. A true triumph for all concerned.