mike-pink-362-169210 Tried desperately hard to enjoy this film and it seemed to start off OK but the mixed story lines, and slow moving scenes etc meant I was nodding off about half way through and found it a struggle to get to the end.Some good bits but too jumbled and so many loose ends to really enjoy along with a damp squid of an ending that did it no favours. The sound track was probably the most enjoyable element with some decent 70's 80's tunes throughout.As hooligan films go, bit more realistic in places than sum such as Green St which is utter tosh but not on the same level as the original film of the 'Firm' with Gary Oldman which is a classic and still the best in my opinion.

FlashCallahan Another year, another film about football, and the cult that is hooliganism.This time, they have Stephen Graham in a del-boy jacket and cool moustache and a quite good soundtrack to try and sell the film. It all fails miserably.It's the everyday story of a young lad who is bored with life, is at a football match and sees some violence and wants in, and starts to ignore his family in favour of the football (or rather the fighting).it's your typically clichéd movie. and the one that stands out the most is the fact that the one who lets him into the group 'Elvis', is rejected by Carty halfway through.In the films favour though, it's realistically filmed, Bell is very good in his role,and Stephen Graham may as well change his name to Robert Carlyle, as now he will always be remembered for his role in 'this is england' as Carlyle is for Trainspotting.the story doesn't really go anywhere, we just see Carty sink deeper an deeper into the abyss, all the while not realising that Elvis is blatantly in love with him.there really hasn't been a good 'Firm' movie since Clarks TV drama 'the firm', and this is just another nail in the football movie coffin.give me when Saturday comes any-day

luckiest_strike I had prepared for a nice evening with football/hooliganism themed movies and "awaydays" was one of them. I was looking forward to it and during the beginning of the film I really liked what I saw but then I missed something. Carty doesn't really go anywhere or do anything in my opinion. In between the fights he spends time with Elvis, gets annoyed by him and leaves only to return a couple of days later. This pattern repeats throughout the film and you can see Elvis falling in love with Carty and eventually committing suicide coming from a mile away. Knowing how the film ends doesn't really add to the excitement and so it just drags on. Same for the part with his sister getting beaten up or raped and him avenging her. Also there barely is any character development. Carty is pretty simple for a main character and his sister goes through more change than him. Most guys in the Pack don't have even have any form of character to speak of. They're just there and occasionally punch and kick guys twice their age in the face.This may not be a very deep analysis but I just got bored by a film that I had been excited to see. The music although sometimes misused is very good and I also liked the overall style of the film. With a little more happening and a bit less predictability it might have been a very good movie. But it ended up as quite boring, especially if you expect to see a take on British hooligans in the 70s/80s from a young lad's perspective. I think I don't even have to mention the lack of realism (the murder of Godden and the fights always ending as if the Pack was fighting pre school kids).5/10

footballmonk Having read Kevin Sampson's thoughtful novel the screen version is something of a disappointment. Characterisation and motivation are largely over-looked in favour of scenes of adrenaline-charged violence. The clothing and style of the era are meticulously created for "The pack" (the hooligan group that Carty joins) but you have to question why the people they fight are generally older less fashionably dressed groups. The pack also emerge from every fight with barely an injury. The music itself is good but often misused - is Joy Division's delicately mournful "The Eternal" really an appropriate soundtrack to a group of bovver boys snarling their way down the street? Shane Meadows "This is England" offers a far superior vision of the period.