Not being interested in watching advertisements for cars and Bacardi Breezers, it my habit to arrive at the cinema about fifteen minutes after the stated programme start time. That usually ensures I arrive just in time for the trailers and, of course, the film I want to see. However, Piccadilly's Picturehouse Central outfoxed me when I went to see 'The Keeper', having started the film bang on the dot of the programme start time! I therefore missed the first ten- or fifteen minutes of the film.
It is based on the story of Bert Trautmann, a Luftwaffe paratrooper who, as a prisoner of war in Lancashire in the mid-1940s, is spotted playing football ('soccer' for Americans, of course!) by Jack Friar, the manager of struggling local side St Helens. Friar invites Trautmann to take over as goalie and also gives him a job in his shop. As well as the opportunity to get out of the camp and play football, this arrangement also introduces Trautmann to Friar's daughter Margaret. Margaret is 'the girl' of St Helens' captain, but Trautmann's easy charm soon starts to win her over...
... and it is this charm that is, perhaps, the film's flaw. Its Trautmann is so pleasant he comes across as unreal - no-one could be that nice! It is only well into the film, after he has started his career at Manchester City and has been established, for the film's purposes, as a Thoroughly Nice Chap, that we learn his dark, wartime secret - and even that is a sin of inaction rather than outright aggression. I am by no means an expert on Trautmann, but a quick skim of his Wikipedia entry suggests the real man was more nuanced: his illegitimate (as she would have been described at the time) daughter; his and Margaret's divorce; his two further marriages; his red card for violent conduct. The film is very enjoyable, but does not stand as an historical document.
Lead actor David Kross brings a boyish charm to the part of Trautmann, but for the reasons stated above I do not think the role stretches him. As Margaret, Freya Mavor is given more to play with, portraying her character's slow acceptance of Trautmann and her numbing grief at a family tragedy. But for me, acting honours go to John Henshaw as Friar. He uses his distinctive face ('like a bulldog chewing a wasp') to great effect here, portraying anger, exasperation and grudging fatherly indulgence to good comedic effect. His performance is the cherry on the top of a great - if factually evasive - feel-good film.
It is based on the story of Bert Trautmann, a Luftwaffe paratrooper who, as a prisoner of war in Lancashire in the mid-1940s, is spotted playing football ('soccer' for Americans, of course!) by Jack Friar, the manager of struggling local side St Helens. Friar invites Trautmann to take over as goalie and also gives him a job in his shop. As well as the opportunity to get out of the camp and play football, this arrangement also introduces Trautmann to Friar's daughter Margaret. Margaret is 'the girl' of St Helens' captain, but Trautmann's easy charm soon starts to win her over...
... and it is this charm that is, perhaps, the film's flaw. Its Trautmann is so pleasant he comes across as unreal - no-one could be that nice! It is only well into the film, after he has started his career at Manchester City and has been established, for the film's purposes, as a Thoroughly Nice Chap, that we learn his dark, wartime secret - and even that is a sin of inaction rather than outright aggression. I am by no means an expert on Trautmann, but a quick skim of his Wikipedia entry suggests the real man was more nuanced: his illegitimate (as she would have been described at the time) daughter; his and Margaret's divorce; his two further marriages; his red card for violent conduct. The film is very enjoyable, but does not stand as an historical document.
Lead actor David Kross brings a boyish charm to the part of Trautmann, but for the reasons stated above I do not think the role stretches him. As Margaret, Freya Mavor is given more to play with, portraying her character's slow acceptance of Trautmann and her numbing grief at a family tragedy. But for me, acting honours go to John Henshaw as Friar. He uses his distinctive face ('like a bulldog chewing a wasp') to great effect here, portraying anger, exasperation and grudging fatherly indulgence to good comedic effect. His performance is the cherry on the top of a great - if factually evasive - feel-good film.