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 Director
: Gurinder Chadha
Starring
: Parminder K. Nagra, Keira Knightley, Jonathan Rhys-Meyers,
Anupam Kher, Archie Panjabi, Shaznay Lewis, Juliet Stevenson.
Picture
1.85:1 Anamorphic, DD 5.1, Dual-Layer, Keep Case
Running
Time : 113 mins
The
story:
Who
wants to stay at home and cook Aloo Gobi when you can bend
a ball like Beckham?
Jess
(Parminder K. Nagra) isn't your average young Indian girl.
For starters she plays football with the boys and she beats
them too! Jess is spotted by fellow football fanatic Jules
(Keira Knightley) who invites her to a trial with a local
women's team, the Hounslow Harriers. Jess has a dream that
one day she can play for England and be as good as Beckham,
But Jess's parents have traditional values and have no intention
of letting their daughter show her legs to thousands of
men. Especially when she should be at home learning how
to cook Aloo Gobi.
The summary:
The
great British comedy is almost becoming an annual event
these days and this years nominee 'Bend It Like Beckham'
deserves the praise more than most. Gurinder Chadha's comedy
may be similar to 'East Is East' in it's 'laugh at the stereotypical
Indian family' approach, but it's a much more heart-warming
experience altogether. Jess - brilliantly played by Parminder
Nagra - is a rebellious teenager determined to realise her
dream to play for England. She's up against her traditional
parents who want her to go to University and loath the Western
habits their daughters are picking up. It's a battle of
cultures and there's only room for one winner.
Gurinder
Chadha's clichéd look at Asian culture does provide the
bulk of the laughs but there's far more to the story than
just poking fun at cultures. Jules's parents think she must
be a lesbian because of her sporty hobby which leads to
some embarrassing moments, and Jess and Jules find they're
both attracted to the same man - even a football comedy
has to have a love-angle! Comedy aside, there's a serious
vein to the story. I know it's difficult to make you believe
a football comedy can be deep on any kind of level, but
this is an inspirational story of a girl's determination
to follow her dream.
Most
of the young cast may be unfamiliar to you, but Anupam
Kher will be well-known to Bollywood fans. But
for me, the star was the stunning Parminder who really seemed
to be enjoying her lead-role. She's a tremendously gifted
young actress as is her fellow team-mate Keira
Knightley (Jules). Ex-All Saint
Shaznay Lewis also makes her acting debut with a far lesser
impact except perhaps for novelty value. I couldn't make
my mind up about Jonathan
Rhys-Meyers who didn't seem
entirely convincing as the team coach - far too quiet and
reserved for a coach but then what do I know about women's
football?
Don't
be put off by the title, it doesn't matter if you don't
like football, Man U or even Beckham, there's something
in this story you will find endearing and Warner have put
together a worthwhile package to tempt you. The transfer
is very well done with no real faults and there's an entertaining
selection of supplemental material to watch once the film
is over. As usual Warner don't really have that much to
offer us on this front, but there's a couple of excellent
features to be found, namely the audio commentary and a
factual but hilarious cookery featurette! Overall, this
is just
one of those discs that you might just have to take a chance
with, and I'm certain you'll be pleasantly surprised!
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