nm3160113 I found this film hard to enjoy despite it being about a subject I have a lot of interest in. This is due to almost all the characters being unlikeable and not funny. However the story has an interesting concept and a few choice moments of brilliance, such as the football training video. The editing and sound are very good, especially the way the archive football commentary is merged with the present day footage.Overall I thought it was fairly well shot, (most notably the final penalty shot scene) but was let down by uninteresting characters. I feel however that the best is yet to come from Chris Cook and will look forward to seeing his next project, whatever that maybe.

peter-isted Very, very entertaining, the Director Chris Cook has captured the funny side of being blind without being offensive, for a low budget movie they do not come any better. The movie took the football theme & created a hilariously funny situation. My wife who has no interest in the wonderful game thought the movie was very funny & entertaining, which is somewhat of a surprise, & now feels that she is something of a football pundit. I can quite see this film becoming a subject of pub banter & being used on the field of play as an excuse for missing penalties. I recommend all sport loving individuals to go to the cinema & have a good giggle.

Chris Watkinson I was fortunate to see this film at a special preview at Elland Road and what a treat. Chris Cook (The director) has used real life experience and his love of Leeds United to create a special low budget cult film. From the early stages you can see his dry sense of humour and slightly twisted view of the world is reflected brilliantly by the means of witty replies and humours profanity. Penalty King follows the life a Lee a die hard Leeds fan who has recently lost his sight to illness and works in a dead end job at the social services cleaning second hand disability equipment. Apart from watching his beloved Leeds all Lee would like to do again is "have a good dam kick about" some thing not possible since the loss of his sight, but with the help of Charlie his eccentric American colleague can Lee once again live the dream and become the penalty king? A must see for all Leeds fans or anyone who has a passion for a football club, works in a dead end job, played Sunday morning football or just enjoys a film with wall to wall laughsBe warned though if you are offended by strong profanity this film might not be for you

mick-137 Suffering from the double disability of being both blind and a fervent Leeds United supporter, social worker Lee longs for nothing more to ease the frustrations of daily life than "a damn good kick-about". His unhinged colleague Charlie decides to make his dream come true, and inveigles him onto a local works football team. But will Lee ever get to exercise his preternatural talent for the penalty kick?"The Penalty King" is an eccentric tale with a dark underside, although still more "Strictly Ballroom" than "Kes". Played by Nick Bartlett as a tightly-wound knot of barely contained aggression, Lee invites neither pity nor sympathy—more the impulse to duck behind a pillar when you see him coming. It's fair to say blindness is the least of his problems.One senses writer/director Chris Cook went to some pretty dark places in his life for the raw materials for this fable, leading to an unsettling blend of truth and fantasy. For example, the portrait of the dank, dysfunctional social services depot where Lee works is both grotesquely over-the-top and strangely accurate. There's also a depth to the rest of the characters which is unusual in a comedy. Played with relish by a strong supporting cast, they're all pretty much bent or damaged too, and there's a violent and bitter edge to their relationships which undercuts the whimsy. "Penalty King" might never achieve the crossover success of "Bend it like Beckham" but it still has all the makings of a cult favourite. It may lack a cart-wheeling Keira Knightley, but there are compensations, notably in the shape of the delightful but underused Clare Grogan (as Lee's bossy-boots boss), who still has the ability to make men of a certain age go weak at the knees. Her drunk scenes alone are worth the price of admission.The film takes its own time to get going, and occasionally over-indulges itself, but can nevertheless sit alongside classics like "Sideways" and "Withnail and I" as an exploration of less creditable sides of the male psyche. An agreeable if not totally uplifting movie then, and, while something of a rough diamond, a gem all the same.