martinmakepeace
I remember this as a rather odd affair, very male, not particularly woman friendly. A world where blokes are blokey and great, with lovable eccentricities, and women are for ogling - here merely disguised rather than mitigated by romantic pseudo poetic posturing. Rachel Weisz is lovely, but not a real woman, very definitely a male fantasy figure. This felt rather curious, especially when compared with An Evening With Gary Lineker, in which the characters, both male and female, were much better drawn. The attention to detail in the football seemed much better in that other play too, here it seemed rather desultory - a sequence of blokes cheering when goals went in and looking glum when they didn't. To sum up, really rather drippy, almost as wet as Morrissey's mustache as he sipped coffee by the Seine in a ludicrous, introspective setup that a teenager would have been embarrassed to have come up with. Shallow, silly, mooning, wet, not connected to the real world. Check out Lineker - it's much better.
vampyre-16
This movie is a definite must see. Even not being a huge fan of football(soccer) this movie held me captivated. Acting is definitely top caliber. Rachel Weisz is absolutely amazing in this movie.
ih8moofies
I remember watching this in the excitement of the run up to France '98. I remember little of the plot (some vague memory of a girl, the Holland match, a garden party) except, of course, the match structure. But I do remember enjoying it. Moreover, I remember how it perfectly captured the excitment and hope of Euro '96. I was watching this and almost forgetting how it would inevitably end. I genuinely believed England were going to go all the way despite that niggling memory in the back of my mind.Definately worth checking out if you can, particularly if England's approaching another major tournament :0)
Stevebarry2000
This rates as one of my favourite sporting programmes ever. Neil Morrissey plays Martin, a massive soccer fan, who we focus on during the 1996 European Championships (Euro '96) which was being played in England.His boss insists that he attend a social event on a Saturday afternoon to prove his commitment to the firm, unfortunately, this clashes with the opening match of the tournament, England versus Switzerland, so Martin promptly quits, insulting his boss in the process.Free to enjoy the football at his leisure, Martin bumps into the mysterious Rosie (Rachel Weisz) who never seems to stick around for very long. During England's victories over Scotland and Holland, Martin's passion for Rosie increases.The tournament progresses to the knock out stages, and England move from the quarter finals where they beat Spain (watched by Martin in a tapas bar) into the semi finals where they meet arch-nemesis' Germany, and crash out during a penalty shoot-out.The recreation of the enthusiasm and fervour of Euro '96 is brilliantly recreated to full effect, and aside from the obvious painful conclusion (for England fans, at least) this gets 5 out of 5 for entertainment.
AD
