Green street hooligans the game

Green Street seems to be more interested in glorifying violence almost making it look like fun. The story is cliched and one dimensional. The Harvard's journalism student Matt Buckner Elijah Wood is expelled from the university two months before his graduation for stashing drugs in his closet in his room. But the insecure Matt does not accuse Van Holden since he is the son of a powerful politician. Matt explains what happened to her in Harvard and when Steve comes home, he asks Matt to go to the football game with his brother Pete Charlie Hunnam since he has planned to date Shannon that night.

However Matt befriends Pete and his friends and fights with them, becoming a confident young man. But soon he has a lesson where the violence of the hooligan gangs leads them. Elijah Wood performs an interesting character that changes his personality through his experience with a gang of hooligans.

Pete is also intriguing since he is a history and physical education teacher for kids and the leader of a gang. It is good to see the loyalty of most of the characters to each other and how they change their personal lives addicted in fights after the football matches.

The tragic conclusion fits well to the behavior of the characters. My vote is seven. Title Brazil : "Hooligans". After getting kicked out of school for a drug offense that he didn't commit, a young journalist Elijah Wood goes to England to visit his sister Claire Forlani and her husband. Soon, he gets sucked into football Soccer culture and joins a firm basically a gang But worse yet, his own crew hates journalists, so if they find his secret, he's a dead man anyway. Before I saw this film, I didn't know anything about it, and feared it was a soccer film.

Not that a soccer film would be bad, but I'm not a sports person. Yet, there's pretty much no soccer in here at all -- maybe not even five minutes. The focus is more on family ties, family legacies and rivalries that are based on pride rather than substance.

Despite Elijah Wood being a generally weak actor, this works well. That's really all I want to say about that. The film is worth watching And I would say that for the most part, it explores themes and situations that are largely new and untouched. That's hard to say about many films, but this one is one of a kind. I had heard bits and pieces about this film, I knew the leading American actor, I knew it was made in Britain, and I knew it had something to do with football, so all those things in mind I tried it out.

He quickly meets Steve's cocky younger brother Pete Charlie Hunnam , who helps him know the ropes and what's what as he will be seen as an "outsider", but after a few sessions of heavy drinking this changes. Matt establishes himself as part of the gang, or firm, of football hooligans the GSE - Green Street Elite, and after football matches their enemies are the gang of Birmingham City thugs.

Initially he is opposed and afraid of getting involved in any violence, but he becomes desensitised to it, almost enjoying it, and he gains more of an independence as well. His attitude changes almost completely that he is reluctant not to return to America with his father Carl Henry Goodman and put the expulsion events to rights. In the end however Matt does return to the United States after some pretty harsh events, such as the attacks and getting into fisticuffs with Jeremy, I would assume he is alright.

Wood's wide-eyed and often scared look does help his character, but none of the other actors really stick out much, not even reasonable stars Warren or Forlani, I agree with the critics that the violence of the well known football hooligans should have been the focus more than relationships within, a predictable crime drama. Quinoa 1 November Green Street Hooligans or just Hooligans for short is a feature that announces a new female director, Lexi Alexander.

Like Kathryn Bigelow, she's not a director of romantic comedies or I hate to use this term but I will chick-flicks, but someone who understands how to get the same kind of grit and testosterone that any gifted male action director could get from his cast of actors. In this case Alexander's tough skin is fitting: her subject matter are 'soccer hooligans', or more specifically those who form in gangs in pubs and fight out in the streets with other gangs representing respective teams.

It's a whole system that is far more aggressive and 'pissed' aka drunk than a typical group of sports fans like one would find in the States, but it's not quite as ruthless as a gang like crips and bloods either. The Hooligans of the GSE fight and act like a gang for status, not for profit, and this is the way of things when Matt Elijah Wood , a Harvard dropout, lands in England and somehow befriends his brother in law's brother Pete Charles Hunnam. From then in the film becomes a story of friendship and eventual betrayal from a scorned member of the GSE, who doesn't like Mike from the start and feels taken aback by his best friend Pete's connection to a practical family member.

It's also about the way that the male brain works in such situations: Matt is a very smart guy, being from Harvard and all and sort of hiding a secret as a journalist major - a big no-no in hooligan gangs, being a "Journie" as its called , but he can go into this violent state of being because it's part of a clique, and part of being part of a group where everyone looks out for everyone else - which he doesn't get from his sister Forlani or his absentee father.

Alexander works best with her cast of characters and actors when they're in the pub and out on the streets, with the camaraderie so easy to just turn on a dime - the intensity is thick always, even in one of those big sing-alongs like with the GSE's "theme song" out in the streets. It also helps that Wood is better than usual and Brit character actors like Hunnam and Geoff Bell impress very much, very much in the mold of a gangster movie a good one.

The only big drawbacks are some unneeded exposition with the narration popping up a few times. Once is too often really, as it doesn't add anything aside from the "I learned this and blah blah" material.

And the final brawl, which shot well, is saddled with a cringe-worthy song that kills the energy and features so much melodrama and an understandably tragic conclusion that it's just too much.

But in general, this is a fine and hard-knocking 'Cockney' flick- watch for that slang- and great if you've never heard of a soccer hooligan and want to take a look. Brutally violent, extreme action and a gripping story. Matt is almost immediately sucked into the traditional rugged soccer hooliganism by his brother-in-law's Marc Warren brother Pete Charlie Hunnam. Standing your ground is a badge of honor and respect Plot sees American college student Matt Buckner Wood expelled from Harvard after drugs are found in the room he shares with the popular son of the powerful Van Holden family.

With time on his hands, Matt decides to visit his sister Shannon Forlani in England and falls in with her brother-in-law Peter Hunnam ; the leader of notorious football hooligan firm The Green Street Elite. Soon enough Matt finds himself running with the firm, finding an outlet for his frustrations whilst learning about trust and loyalty. But how far is he prepared to go? And what implications are around the corner for those involved, and those close to them?. Ah, the football hooligan, a some what popular topic for translation to film and book on a yearly basis; in the UK.

To America, tho, the concept of gangs beating the tar out of each other in the name of the football team you support: is most assuredly absurd. Enter Lexi Alexander and the team who sat around the table and said " lets educate them darn Yanks on the subject, lets get Frodo Baggins involved and thrust him into the machismo fuelled world of football violence", cue some stroking of beards and finally the green light for Green Street was well and truly lit.

So a hot topic movie that's adding an interesting continental slant, then?. The football hooligan film has had some decent enough productions over the years, film's like Nick Love's remake of The Firm and Philip Davis' excellent offering ID, have interesting observations on the subject at hand.

Yet it has the same problem that many of the other similar themed film's has, namely it muddies the lines of being a rose tinted admiration or a damning indictment. Sure the outcome here is the same as the others, it always ends in tears and misery for someone, the overriding message is, hey guys, football hooliganism is really bad; not just for society, but for yourselves too. Yet the visceral violence the fights are very well constructed by Alexander has an exhilaration to it that borders on glamorisation, while the thread of Matt's transformation from meek college boy into spine growing ass kicker, is giving off what sort of moral message?

So do we learn anything new from Green Street? No, and that's a shame because Alexander has done a good job of putting the viewer in the mix and she's at least tried something different with the American angle.

She's also garnered some good performances from the cast. Wood has come in for some criticism for his performance, yet he's played it exactly as written. He's meant to be a guy who goes thru an unbelievable transformation, it's a known fact that many football hooligans have great professional jobs and that some were once mild mannered intelligent scholars. That his character doesn't sit right in the topic is not his fault, he plays the role perfectly. Of the others, Hunnam is charismatic and Leo Gregory is annoyingly memorable as right hand man Bovver, while Geoff Bell is outright scary as Millwall thug leader Tommy Hatcher.

Mixed messages unbound and sign posted from the off, Green Street is hardly one to recommend to those venturing into the source material for the first time. For those interested in a problem that refuses to go away, however?

It's very much one to put on your to see list. Theo Robertson 1 February Films featuring football hooligans have been done to death. They usually follow a basic formula of an outsider becoming involved in a firm because it gives them a sense of identity. They're essentially straight forward violent dramas with pretensions of existentialist themes , comparable with Hollywood gangster movies.

Nothing much story wise though it's obvious - perhaps too much so - that this movie is trying to get itself noticed in America. The cause isn't helped much because the version I saw didn't have the greatest sound mix. The story is also held up as the characters have to explain to Wood's character , Matt Buckner , who the rival firms are Where the film does succeed is to give some characters depth.

For much of the film I thought I was watching Marc Warren in yet another wasted role but then it's revealed he's the mythical major which is a surprise that carries dramatic impact. Unfortunately this doesn't extend much to anyone else. There's the very predictable climax of a fight shot in slow motion and cross cut editing that leads to the message violence begets violence and GREEN STREET doesn't bring anything new to the sub genre.

Football, Drinking and fighting. The backbone of any good movie. And, it is well worth the time as these two are fantastic. After Wood gets kicked out of Harvard, he learns about some real kicks - football!

It should have had subtitles for those of us who don't speak English. But, the mix of football and firms gangs was fascinating. Charlie Hunnam was great as the firm's leader, who took Woods under his wing. Things get tense when Wood's dad visits and he gets seen at the Times.

A secret is revealed and the excitement level skyrockets. Boy, do they all hate journalists! The song "One Blood", sung by Terence Jay highlighted a marvelous sound track. This movie had two things I didn't care much for: soccer yes I called it soccer and senseless violence. It would be an error to say the movie was about soccer because it had very little to do with soccer. It had more to do with senseless violence than anything. Green Street Hooligans did its level best to convince us of the nobility of soccer "firms" aka gangs.

Apparently, the soccer teams of England also have unofficial "firms" attached to them. These "firms" are nothing more than liquored up thugs that fight each other for a "rep" and "firm" dominance. What failed to resonate with me was the fact that these firms fought each other based upon their chosen soccer team. They make a point to insult the Crips and Bloods who fight over turf as though fighting for soccer is somehow more noble.

It's a sport. It's for entertainment. The players themselves wouldn't even fight over their respective teams. And I get sports passion because I love sports myself.

Still, I'm not fighting over it. The main character, Matt Buckner Elijah Wood , was a languishing spineless soul until he fell in with the West Ham United firm--or so they'd have you believe.

After he got a taste of blood and excitement he was a changed man. A better man. The plot was painfully simple and one-dimensional and Elijah Wood didn't sell it at all. Nobody really was able to sell this movie to me. It was hard to take one iota of this seriously. Fighting over soccer teams, reputations, journalist phobias, and daddy issues all made an appearance and none of it made sense.

I'm assuming that this movie is so beloved because it's like a British version of Fight Club. Fight Club I liked, this I didn't. The first thing I should say is that I can't stand the sport with that said, the footage of it in this actually was exciting Being Danish, I'm seemingly in the minority here in the country.

I avoided this film like the plague for years. Days ago, I watched Punisher: War Zone. The next chance I got, I picked this up on sale. That was yesterday. I think that should give you an idea of how badly I wanted to see more stuff by Lexi Alexander. I was not disappointed. She has this ability to take us into a dangerous environment and somehow make the violence in it brutal, bloody and terrifying, without the audience checking out of the movie, and without entirely abandoning the hard, unpleasant reality that it lives in all of us, and it can be temporarily satisfying to give into it.

She walks this balance flawlessly with both of these. The fight sequences are swiftly cut, like sharpened blades.

They disturb and unsettle us with the sense that it will not end well, and yet we find ourselves strangely drawn to it. No two are alike, and nothing in this is gratuitous. This puts us in the hooligan subculture, and, through the lead, we find ourselves feeling at home there, comfortable, well-liked.

The acting is excellent. Wood, Hunnam, and really, everyone in this delivers an impeccable performance, including the children. This keeps to a solid pace, with a lot of energy to any scene that requires it, and it never stands still. There is plenty of humor in this, and it should not be thought of as only a negative look at hooliganism. This understands it, and helps us to, as well.

Note that there is British slang and accents in this thank goodness for subtitles. The plot is engaging, well-told and smart.

This reiterates an age-old point that remains vital , and does so without seeming tired or preachy: An eye for an eye leaves the world blind. The characters are well-written, memorable, credible, and well-developed, and, like everything else in this, psychologically accurate. All of the music is fitting and well-chosen. There is a ton of strong language in this, in addition to what I've already described. The DVD comes with trailers for six other pictures and this.

I recommend this to anyone interested in the subject. Green Street Hooligans is a terrific film about violence and heartache, but brings much joy. Elijah Wood's character Matt, gets embroiled into the world of soccer hooliganism and mateship, helping him become more self-assured. The characters of Tommy Hatcher and Bovver bring the necessary hardness to the film. Claire Forlani's a little underutilized, even if only to add a little sexual provocativeness.

In fact, all of the Dunhams could be better. I love the final showdown and everything it entailed. Greetings again from the darkness. Not sure how I missed this the first time around, but it was recommended by a friend and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

The fight scenes seem very realistic, but this film is more about man's need to be apart of something The acting is surprisingly strong with Elijah Wood, Charlie Hunnam, Lee Gregory and Claire Forlani delivering performances usually only seen from the big boys.

Much of the credit must go to director Lexi Alexander who shows a real flair for tension-filled scenes and getting the most out of an actor. It is a bit of a coming of age story for wimpy Wood as Matt, a journalist major at Harvard who gets expelled when he won't fight the drug charges that his roommate sent him up with.

The rest of the film is Wood's search for his backbone. Hunnam proves to be an exciting and dynamic leader of men, who actually does have a soul Forlani flashes her most expressive eyes and does a great deal with her limited role here. I expect bigger things from her over the next 10 years. Check this one out and spread the word on this hidden gem. The action is good, the dialogue is fast and fun and checking out the world of futbol firms is also very interesting.

It is a story so packed with violence that the underlying subplots get lost until the film is reduced to the size of a television screen. The story is well told by introducing a Yank into this atmosphere, allowing the viewer to see the origins and machinations of hooliganism from a fairly unbiased stance.

Matt Buckner Elijah Wood has just been expelled form Harvard in his last semester, taking the blame for his coke-snorting hotshot roommate whose family is too important for such blunderings.

Somewhat without direction and not having his degree in journalism completed Matt's father - Henry Goodman - is a high ranking international journalist whose time is spent in foreign ports since the death of Matt's mother Matt flies to London to live with his sister Shannon Claire Forlani and her husband Steve Marc Warren and their young son. Steve's rowdy brother Pete Charlie Hunnam interrupts Matt's arrival with a demand for money from his older brother and reluctantly accepts the company of the new Yank Matt in order to gain cash from Steve.

What ensues is Matt's introduction to the GSE Green Street Elite , a firm of men who defend the honor and success of their chosen soccer team: there are many such firms of street violence gangs who vie for ranking within the city.

Matt is plunged into this violent situation and learns form Pete the importance of gang stance: always protect your brothers and never flee a fight. The story grows increasingly complex and intense as we learn the backgrounds for hate and intolerance, one of these hates is for journalists and when it is discovered that Matt was a journalism major at Harvard the news nearly causes Matt's life. But Matt slowly identifies with the firm and grows into a sense of individuality that he has never had, giving him the ability to face the realities of his father's absence and to understand the precarious marriage of his sister whose husband is a 'reformed' hooligan.

In the end there is a 'justification' for the violence witnessed, but the audience must be willing to view that justification from an altered stance. The film is paced well and the cast is excellent, with special kudos to Elijah Wood, Claire Forlani, Marc Warren, Charley Hunnan, and to the fine supporting cast members including Leo Gregory as the unfortunate snitch, Terence Jay as the coke-addicted Harvard roommate, and a large cast of 'firm members' whose fighting techniques are well choreographed and captured by cinematographer Alexander Buono.

Grady Harp. You've seen them on television, and you've read about them in the news. Europe is particularly aware of folks who travel for football games amongst neighboring countries, only to have them create trouble or duke it out with the locals or one another, if the results don't go their way.

While had a look at professional Premiership football with the movie Goal! Not just any plain old armchair supporters, but really passionate ones, who live, breathe and eat football, and bond together to form Firms i. Similar to mafias, triads, what-have-yous, Firms thrive on reputation. The bigger the stunt, or the fight, the bigger the reputation gets spread. And it's usually as explained in the movie, though of course, in better light for West Ham United the better teams having weaker Firms.

I'd like that acknowledgment that Arsenal is the better footballing team, but having a terribly weak Firm, while Spurs are poor in both haha! We also learn what irks the Firms most, besides rival Firms. Elijah Wood plays Matt Buckner, a Harvard journalism dropout for a misdemeanor he did not commit. He flies to London to meet up with his sister, and gets introduced to his brother-in-law's brother duh Pete Dunham. Of course him being a Yank doesn't endear him to GSE, but they're willing to overlook the point and give the rookie a chance to prove himself since he's brought in by Pete.

We only have one football match to watch ala Goal! Elijah Wood didn't have much of a difficult job to do, as all he did was to continuously wear that scowl on his face for the second half of the movie. And it actually degenerates into some sort of UK-football version of Fight Club, where members of rival Firms whack the living daylights out of one another to prove their point.

Perhaps co-star Charlie Hunnam did a better job as Pete, ringing home his performance as a leader, and a surrogate big brother.

The plot, to me, was engaging material, though it came with some predictable subplots like betrayals. It tries to make the point that violence begets violence, but doesn't offer any suggestions otherwise, because fanaticism in football is real and continuing issue that might seem to mar the sport.

Some might deem this movie as romanticizing hooliganism, but it tried to balance those attempts by having a major character pardon the pun rationalize and play the devil's advocate. I'm not sure why we had to rename this movie locally to "Football Hooligans". I know Green Street Hooligans might make some go Huh? But this is the internet age, where information is at the tip of your fingers, and all you have to do, is just to google it, or go visit IMDb. It's an interesting movie, with grand themes about not letting your buddies down, and for standing firm in what you believe in.

Though the premise is controversial brutal gang fights and all , it did seem like you're watching an updated, Caucasian remake of movies like A Better Tomorrow and Prison On Fire. Just remember to keep whatever inert tempers in check after leaving the theater. StevePulaski 2 May One of my favorite gang films of all time is Boyz N The Hood, mainly because its prime focus isn't the actual gang members but rather the people affected by the violence and unrest.

The film followed three men, growing up with albatrosses and typical coming of age struggles, only magnified because of their presence in a poor neighborhood. The film was dark, poignant, and very, very upsetting, yet beautifully done, with every frame and character having paid close attention to detail and subtitles. Along comes Green Street Hooligans many years later. It's no Boyz N The Hood, but it's still worth a look.

The film centers around the London "Green Street Elite" GSE gang, comprised of brutal men with a die-hard obsession for the sport of football and an appetite for grave brutality. Their latest member is tourist Matt Buckner Wood , who was kicked out of Harvard after being framed for drug use. He visits his sister and her husband out in London, and winds up becoming acquainted with her husband's brother Pete Hunnam , the leader of the hooligan "firm.

The synopsis below may give away important plot points. Getting Started Contributor Zone ». Edit page. Top Gap. See more gaps ». Create a list ». Sports Outside the Box. See all related lists ».

Share this page:.