Review of The Football Factory (2004) by Jimmy P — 28 Apr 2009

With entertainment and violence by the bucket load, Football Factory has often been the subject of critical disdain for it's lack of substance beneath all the goings on in the film. Balls I say! It makes for a fascinating class and character study into the modern day football hooligan (for better or worse).

It's stereotypical, but then to be fair it's not far off the mark in terms of portraying the laddish culture and the general vibe of the hooligan firms in general. That's not just an opinion on my part, but countless individuals who were in the trenches for this various organised outfits have said the film accurately portrays the culture.

Some actually say it was WORSE in real life as opposed to on the screen. Speaking of the bad press, Football Factory is bound to be given stick by critics but whilst there are hooligan films out there, there are also countless other films in various genre's which are almost completely tasteless yet are the subject of celebration by critics.

On the downside, Tamer Hassan can't act for shit. Danny Dyer is ok, but Frank Harper is brilliant as Billy Bright. There's plenty of goodness to be had here ladies and gents, if nothing else it's 88 minutes of your life you won't mind putting on hold for.

Win!!