Review of The Football Factory (2004) by Connor B — 01 Aug 2012

Unlike Green Street the Football Factory is good for what it is and that is quite simply a film about football hooligans, the film is essentially about beer, drugs and fighting and that works for the football factory. Starring Danny Dyer as Tommy Johnson a cockney hardman who loves boozing and is in a football firm with his pals. The Football factory has a sub-par plot that is loosely based on a novel but the action and the acting more than make up for the films lack of storyline. Dyer has become severely typecast in roles like the one he plays in this movie but the thing is it kind of works for him sometimes, the way I look at is if I see Dyer's name among the cast I know what to expect from him and I think he knows this too so he plays to his strengths in the football factory.

The plot revolves around Tommy trying to avoid running into an opposing team's firm as he has been having a recurring dream where they beat him severely and he manages to avoid them until the two teams collide in a local derby and it is then Tommy knows that he must face up to his fears. There are some very funny characters in the football factory including Tommy's cocaine loving best friend and especially Blighty (the leader of the firm) who is your typical boozy hardman who cannot seem to avoid confrontation or the chance to get one up on even his mates, there is a subplot in the football factory involving two old men who are planning to move to Australia to see out there remaining years and they provide a lot of funny moments throughout the film. Overall the film is watchable and the plot and acting are decent enough to make it enjoyable.