Review of The Football Factory (2004) by Carolina L — 04 Dec 2007

I'm usually pretty critical when people come over to me and say some movie is great. Usually they turn out to be great disappointments because of my crooked taste in movies. My friends ranked this movie really high and that made me even more doubtful. But I was wrong. This was THE movie for me.

Ever since I bought Football factory on DVD and watched it over and over again I keep asking my self what it is that makes me wanna see it all over again. I've tried to analyze my obsession with this movie but just can't come to a conclusion. There is something about this movie, that I've never seen before. It's the feeling you get when you watch it, and trust me when I say that I'm not a psycho who admires drugs, alcohol and violence. It's something much deeper. Nick Love showed the whole world what it means to be a fan. The type of sport you like, or the success of your team doesn't matter when it comes to pure cheering. It's about belonging somewhere and standing on your buddies side on good- and bad times. Instead of "me" it now is "we". If you are not a fan of a sport team, like me, you wont see the same in this movie as I do. But watching this movie reminds me of all those times with my mates on some home- or away game. Every time you got yourself into trouble there was always someone standing on your side even if it was you who did wrong. Having your buddies on your side makes you feel so strong, like you could take over the world if you'd want to. This movie shows the other side of being a fan, that side no one talks about aloud, but still everyone is thinking about it. It's just so much more than singing some crappy songs and getting really drunk. It's simply said about belonging somewhere. To believe in something. To have something to stand for. When you loose you loose together and when you win you win together and man that feeling is great. The best thing about this movie is absolutely the characters, who it's so easy to relate to. they are just normal people who do normal stuff on the weeks. This movie continually makes me miss my mates, and I guess that is the poison in this movie that I'm addicted to.

The fighting is all just bonus, who wouldn't love some action? Even in this case you have to remember, that the fighting and everything including it is not the heart of this movie. It's not about the violence, that is just something you had to add there. Football hooliganism is surely a huge theme in this movie, Love shows that it's just a way of life. And if you can close your eyes to the violence you will find this movie superb. With all the confusion in the main characters head and mind makes this movie also a noteworthy drama. Then again, the acting in this movie is so beautiful to watch. It's so real and natural and the talented actors really showed what they are getting payed for. The dialogs are smart, easy to quote, sounds good and not too exaggerated. The language used is ruff and ugly, but real and the same used on the streets. No matter how weird it will sound saying this loud, I have to say it. Nick Love made art of fighting. Football factory is definitely one of the greatest movies I've ever seen and it would surely be a sin to vote this movie anything else than excellent.