Plot is quite good, performances are excellent, even the writing is good. A quick plot summary:
1) Boy loves Arsenal 2) Boy meets girl and they hate each other 3) They end up falling in love and accidentally getting pregnant 4) Boy's love of football drives them apart. Girl keeps wanting him to live in the real world. 5) Boy makes pretty solid arguments about how the real world is not really all that interesting and it's good to have something outside of yourself to be emotionally attached to. 6) Arsenal wins the league and the both realize they were equally sort of wrong. 7) Happily ever after.
This is a delightful film, and you will enjoy it. Especially if you are a Firth fan. He has delightfully moppy hair and his character is frustratingly endearing. There is very little to say on the positive side as it is all just...really nice! Funny, heartwarming, great pacing, just lovely. Stop reading this review and go and watch it.
For the downside, there is really only one: the resolution. In classic, rom-com style, after having a row, she (though it's usually the guy) has a change of heart and seeks him out. She runs to his house in the final minutes of the game, and he tells her to...well...get lost but uses much stronger language. This moment relies on you knowing that most British apartments (at least in the late 80s) didn't have a way for you to buzz people in from inside your home. He realizes it was her and runs down to get her (even though the game is still on!) and she has wandered off. He runs back upstairs to catch the winning goal, and they meet up/make up/make out during the victory celebration in the streets. That all sounds lovely, but for me, it fell a bit flat. First, I felt her wandering away was strange. I don't think the movie was materially improved by delaying their reunion until the party. I suppose it gives a bit of a reason to show the celebration, but it felt strange. The time it took him to run downstairs, after swearing at her, was hardly enough time for her to wander far enough that he couldn't see her. Second, the issues in their relationship remain unresolved. There is a bit of a throwaway where he says, "Their failures are not my failures any more" or something like that. Essentially, his life/happiness is less connected to Arsenal's success. So, the movie wants you to think that they met in the middle: he changed a little and so did she (evidenced by their cute bickering as the movie closes). However, it's a trick. He gives up something deeply meaningful to him and becomes less connected to football and his fellow fans. She likes football a little more. That's it. She doesn't think the "real world" is any less real. She learns no lessons about the beauty of loving something you have no control over. That's her whole character: preparing, lesson plans, organization. It's all about control. She doesn't give that up or even question it. You could argue that she feels it a little in the street celebration, but that's unconvincing to me. I've been in those celebrations, and they're fun even if you don't care a whit for the team or even the sport. All it would have taken would have been a single line suggesting that she might be rethinking her priorities. But no, the conclusion is that sports are still juvenile and silly, and we should all really focus on more important things and not be so affected by them.
In conclusion, I liked it, but for my personal tastes (as a lover of sport), the resolution could have been more satisfying.
1) Boy loves Arsenal 2) Boy meets girl and they hate each other 3) They end up falling in love and accidentally getting pregnant 4) Boy's love of football drives them apart. Girl keeps wanting him to live in the real world. 5) Boy makes pretty solid arguments about how the real world is not really all that interesting and it's good to have something outside of yourself to be emotionally attached to. 6) Arsenal wins the league and the both realize they were equally sort of wrong. 7) Happily ever after.
This is a delightful film, and you will enjoy it. Especially if you are a Firth fan. He has delightfully moppy hair and his character is frustratingly endearing. There is very little to say on the positive side as it is all just...really nice! Funny, heartwarming, great pacing, just lovely. Stop reading this review and go and watch it.
For the downside, there is really only one: the resolution. In classic, rom-com style, after having a row, she (though it's usually the guy) has a change of heart and seeks him out. She runs to his house in the final minutes of the game, and he tells her to...well...get lost but uses much stronger language. This moment relies on you knowing that most British apartments (at least in the late 80s) didn't have a way for you to buzz people in from inside your home. He realizes it was her and runs down to get her (even though the game is still on!) and she has wandered off. He runs back upstairs to catch the winning goal, and they meet up/make up/make out during the victory celebration in the streets. That all sounds lovely, but for me, it fell a bit flat. First, I felt her wandering away was strange. I don't think the movie was materially improved by delaying their reunion until the party. I suppose it gives a bit of a reason to show the celebration, but it felt strange. The time it took him to run downstairs, after swearing at her, was hardly enough time for her to wander far enough that he couldn't see her. Second, the issues in their relationship remain unresolved. There is a bit of a throwaway where he says, "Their failures are not my failures any more" or something like that. Essentially, his life/happiness is less connected to Arsenal's success. So, the movie wants you to think that they met in the middle: he changed a little and so did she (evidenced by their cute bickering as the movie closes). However, it's a trick. He gives up something deeply meaningful to him and becomes less connected to football and his fellow fans. She likes football a little more. That's it. She doesn't think the "real world" is any less real. She learns no lessons about the beauty of loving something you have no control over. That's her whole character: preparing, lesson plans, organization. It's all about control. She doesn't give that up or even question it. You could argue that she feels it a little in the street celebration, but that's unconvincing to me. I've been in those celebrations, and they're fun even if you don't care a whit for the team or even the sport. All it would have taken would have been a single line suggesting that she might be rethinking her priorities. But no, the conclusion is that sports are still juvenile and silly, and we should all really focus on more important things and not be so affected by them.
In conclusion, I liked it, but for my personal tastes (as a lover of sport), the resolution could have been more satisfying.