antoniotierno It's undeniable that this kind of plot was worked and reworked in many movies but "The Match" has a wonderful locale and a decent cast (also starring the American Tom Sizemore). The team of misfits subject is here handled focusing on quirky characters and on a romantic basis (Willie is still in love with his childhood friend Rosemary). This small-town comedy - with a little Pierce Brosnan cameo - dealing with the underdog theme and the football/soccer popularity, could somehow remind other working class stories but it's completely different from Ken Loach pictures because is less centered on social problems and more on a melhancoly atmosphere. However it works

us_rugby_fan-1 I enjoyed this movie thoroughly. The only reason I gave it an 8 is because of the "love" interests they try and through it. If they would have just kept the movie about football between the two pubs, then it would have made a 10 easy. Funny and entertaining, just can't get better than that. In all honesty, the football scene is way too short for the build up. I will admit, the ending is predictable. It starts off OK, builds, plateaus, then ends predictably. I recommend this to anyone who loves football. However it does not portray small town Scottish life very well. Rent it or buy it, you'll love it. I give it 3 thumbs up.

almharet Other people have used the words "light, romantic" for this film. I'd sooner use the words boring and predictable. If, as a child, you watched all those wonderful family sport movies(i.e., Little Giants, Angels in the Outfield), and then followed those up with the slightly more grown-up, but otherwise fairly similar sport dramedies (Mystery Alaska, for example) you get a pretty good idea of the sport movie formula, and they all share a trick or two. What makes some of them good is little twists of originality that sets them apart. Even storylines that allow the heroic team to lose set themselves apart in a show of realistic-ness and, well, modesty. I saw this movie for one reason: Richard E. Grant. And I rated it above a 1 for one reason: Richard E. Grant. He added a few comic moments to a story that otherwise I could practically recite without ever coming in contact with it before. There is nothing worse than sitting in front of a movie, and saying to yourself, "Oh, jeez, I know exactly what's going to happen next, and what's going to happen after that, and so on", and then finding that you are exactly right. We have the two competing pubs, the good guys, roughcut poor men with hearts of gold deep, deep down under their unwashed hides and snarly attitudes, versus the rich snobs of L'Bistro (now, come on guys, a Bistro in the middle of rural Scotland?), who are of course the champions of the last ninety nine years of matches between the two, and of course it all stems from a century old bet between the two original owners, who were once friends but then were torn apart over -- drumroll please -- a woman. Now, I'm not going to tell you how it ends, but hopefully you'll have the intellect to guess it without ever having to go out and waste your money on this piece. The one exception to the monotony was Grant, who comically portrays Gorgeous Gus, L'Bistro's villainous owner. His sideline antics were the only thing that made the final big match seen worth the time. Even so, it hardly passed. I give it a two, for Grant's sake. And, if he's what you're seeing it for, there are some much better ones you could rent. I highly recommend "Jack and Sarah"

Mike (sutcal) This was actually an enjoyable movie to watch, but nothing I would recommend to anyone as a "stand out". The entire movie centres around the pending soccer match between rival pub customers with the winner vanquishing the losers pub for ever.The central character is the ultimate hero with the customary love interest that bears fruit at the very end of the movie. There are a couple of Cameo appearances from Alan Shearer and James Bond himself to carry some weight to the cast.Sometimes these sort of movies can be a very enjoyable experience and I probably saw this one on the wrong day (was looking for something more meaty in plot).It's sort of like a Full Monty crossed with Notting Hill type movie but not as good as either and certainly not as funny.That said, passes the time when nothing else to do.