davideo-2 STAR RATING: ***** The Works **** Just Misses the Mark *** That Little Bit In Between ** Lagging Behind * The Pits Just last week, when I was reviewing Made in Britain, I commented that I'd like to get a chance to see The Firm, the last of Alan Clarke's really prominent works. I also noted that MIB was 'short, sharp and shocking' but that really ends up applying more to this film. Barely even feature length and not actually featuring that much footie violence (except for one or two, with one I recognized by my familiar Birmingham New Street) it's a film carried by Clarke's usual method of having no soundtrack and letting the film carry itself, as well as a startling lead performance from Gary Oldman as a man who can switch from a normal, calm assured guy one minute to a determined, angry psycho the next.Bex (Oldman) cuts a nice living as an estate agent and on the surface appears to be a decent, respectable, ordinary everyday bloke. But every Saturday, it becomes a different matter. He heads the ICF Football 'Firm', responsible for organized soccer violence. The film charts his gradual deterioration, as he becomes more driven to mount the firm against impossible odds and come out as top dog.Any fans of UK television should keep their eyes peeled throughout, as there's a whole host of familiar 'before-they-were-famous' faces on display, from Only Fools and Horses's Mickey Pearce, to Corrie's Jim McDonald (doing a reasonable cockney accent) and , least prominently, East Enders' Steve McFadden (aka Phil Mitchell) as one of the rival firm's thugs.It's not on quite as grand a scope as later films with similar themes would be (I.D., The Football Factory) but kudos to the TV film that got the concept of soccer violence rolling. ****

Howlin Wolf ... because the culture of 'hooliganism' has moved on since this was made. It certainly hasn't gone away, but the organisation of such things is tighter these days with the aid of technology like the Internet. Hopefully these developments will be addressed in upcoming fare like "The Football Factory".So the 'values and ideals' shown in this film are different because it's a bygone age. Less materialism and more violence exists EVERYWHERE these days, so showing it creeping into suburbia isn't necessarily as shocking now as perhaps it was when viewed at the time. There are some nice performances here though from a wealth of British acting talent who went on to bigger things, and Oldman keeps you watching throughout as only he can; holding the screen with his intense passion. Disappointingly, though, the scenes which are most effective are often undercut by what follows, with the pace never quite finding itself even at a short 67mins. The ending can similarly be seen as a damp squib, but the one or two powerful moments in getting there make this a worthwhile experience for fans of some of the actors.

saigonpieman I have tried without success to buy this film through friends who have visited England during the years that I have been away. Despite the fact I avoided football through the 'boy' years, I thought this film was fantastic, and Gary Oldman showed his talents in everything he made after it.

Zeech Oh Yes...This is no exaggeration. The footie the fights. This movie has it all. I grew up on the outskirts of this thing, and as the movie shows, it is all highly organized and the participants are like Baz, often 'regular, working people' who even without being 'under the influence' need to get into a good kicking. The historical reality is, English fans became banned in numerous countries (most of Europe) and interestingly enough often became one of the few male bonding rituals, where race was not always an issue, as long as you could 'deliver a good kicking' you were in- witness the racial mix of Baz and his posse. I use this Film in media classes, especially with international students as a good kick off point for looking at a certain aspect of English culture Zeech