Green Street Hooligans

June 30, 2006

Rated: R Runtime: 109 min Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Matt Buckner (Wood) is a wrongfully expelled journalism student from Harvard that gets framed by his extremely pompous roommate, for selling drugs. This roomie is the son of a powerful politician and he offers Matt 10 G’s as well as the promise of future employment if he will keep his mouth shut and take the wrap. At first Matt throws the money at the dude and says he doesn’t want his money but ultimately he decides to take it and disappear for a while. Matt tries to contact his father but in a very ‘my daddy doesn’t love me moment’ he gets just his voicemail telling him he will be out of the country… Dad is a big time investigative journalist and is always on the job, so he’s never been much of a dad. Anywhoo, feeling dejected and alone he decides to take this time to see his sister Shannon (Forlani) and baby nephew in jolly ol’ England, where she is married to a successful British business type.

Green Street Hooligans Matt arrives in the land of fish and chips, goes to his sister’s place where he runs into his brother-in-law’s brother, Pete (Hunnam). Pete is tricked into taking Matt with him to the Futball (Soccer for us… stupid game) match and a rousing time at the pub. Matt is told very clearly that the only things Brits hate more than rival futball firms (Hooligans) is a Yank and a Journo (journalist). This of course does not bode well as Matt is both, so he makes up a quick fib about being a history major instead. You know this will come back to haunt him later but that’s why we watch.

Matt hits it off with all of Pete’s mates except for one, Bovver; of course he is the toughest of the group and Pete’s right hand so he is leery of Matt’s presence from the start. The gang get hammered for a while at the pub and when the time comes they head out into the street’s like a gang of maniacs, ready for their Futball. Pete’s crew are known as the Green Street Elite and they represent the west Ham United team. It would seem each team in the league has such a group and their ‘job’ is to go from place to place kicking the other fans arses and building a rep. And, I thought Eagles and Browns fans were insane… we got nuthin’ on these guys.

Long story short Matt joins the firm and builds a significant rep as the only Yank to be on a firm, and makes the best friend he has ever had in Pete, and a family from the Green Street Elite. The movie is great and had Forlani shown me as much as a butt crack it would get 5 stars no questions asked. I hate soccer so when I was given this one I revolted a little but I am glad I watched it. Lexi Alexander opened my eyes to a culture I never knew existed much like SE Hinton did over 20 years ago with the classic novel and film the Outsiders. The gang mentality as a whole is not something I understand but this movie puts a face of loyalty and respect on it that goes beyond the Futball teams these guys represent which is the biggest reason this movie works.

The acting was really good (even Wood didn’t piss me off), and the fight scenes although shot mostly in slow motion are very well choreographed. I mean that because they aren’t Hollywood at all, if you get punched in your face you go down, sometimes you get up, sometimes you don’t, just like real life and that was a huge part of the films appeal. Whether you are a fan of soccer or not give this movie a chance, I’m glad I did and I think you will be too.

Posted by J.C. Edwards | Filed Under 4 Stars, Action, Charlie Hunnam, Claire Forlani, DVD, Drama, Elijah Wood, Marc Warren, R