Green Street Hooligans

There is a new soccer movie that is hitting theaters in Chicago, New York City and Los Angeles on September 9th called, "Green Stree Hooligans."

Elijah Wood, aka Frodo Baggins, is one of the main characters in a movie in which Wood is booted out of Harvard, goes to London to live with his sister and meets a new group of friends and he becomes a West Ham supporter.

From what I have read, this is a must see for fans of the English game. I am going to see an advance screening in Chicago on Sept. 1. I will give my review of the movie after that. In the meantime, here is a link to the movie's website:

http://www.greenstreethooligans.com/

 

MrsJux and I have been following this since we heard about it. I only hope it's as good as the advance press says it is.

 

Its crap...well, just the fact that it has to do with West Ham.

 

I wonder how Elijah Wood prepared for the role of West Ham supporter? Living in a sewer for a while? Maybe a few months in prison?

 

Ha Ha...one of the posts of the day.

 

RE: Re: Green Street Hooligans

I saw the film tonight here in Chicago at a screening. I must say that I really enjoyed it. I will not give away too much, but I will say that while football is what brings the supporters together in this movie and in real life, it is the comradery and the loyalty the fans of football clubs have for one another that really stand out in this movie.

There is about 5 minutes of football scenes in the entire movie. However, learning about the characters and their roles in the life of a "firm" in England is quite interesting.

It seemed like holliganism was more prevelent in the 80's until tragic events happened and rule changes were put in place preventing acts of hooliganism from occurring. That is not to say there is no violence at all, just less than there was in the 80's.

As a fan of the English Leagues as we all are, it is worth it to check this movie out.

One last thing, do not bring your kids. It is violent and there is a load of fighting going in this film.

 

I can't wait to see it. ChicagoTom, in your opinion does the movie have an "anti-violence message" to it? I only ask because I saw a recent article mentioning that West Ham is quite upset with the movie after letting the film crew shoot scenes at Upton Park. Here's the article for anyone interested:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/footbal ... 186838.stm

 

I would say there is NOT an anti-violence message at all in the film. I do not want to give anything away telling specific events and such, but I will say the movie does explore both the good and bad things of the violence the boys experience in the movie.

This is one of the reasons I mentioned not bringing kids to the movie. It would not be good for them.

As for West Ham being pissed, one of the producers of the movie was there and talking about the fact that they sought out the ICF, a real West Ham firm, and asked permission from them to make a movie about them.

The club itself has nothing to do with the actual movie at all. This is a movie about firms, not clubs. West Ham should be happy, they are getting their name out there and because of this movie and I guarantee they will get some new fans because of this film.

 

Yes, it's a plus for West Ham in that they'll be getting their name out to viewers of the movie. But they, and the local mayor, are worried that the movie will also locally increase the hooligan trend during a time that they are looking to revamp their neighborhood and Green Street. Even though the movie focuses on life based on the Inter City Firm and other firms, with the movie having Green Street in the title and scenes being shot at Upton Park, W.H. will still be associated with the film by viewers. The movie producers were given permission to film at Upton Park by stating that the movie had an anti-violence message to it. But after observing the scenes shot at Upton Park, West Ham said they were lied to about the meaning behind the film.

Either way I'm still looking forward to seeing the movie, but was just curious whether W.H. had a legitimate reason to be upset. Holy crap I just realized I think I'm supporting W.H. against the film industry, until I am able to see the film for myself at least.

 

I just rented this movie the other day and I really enjoyed it. West Ham has a right to be pissed, because imo this was a movie promoting violence. The message I got from this movie is if you want to be a true supporter and get respect then join a firm.

 

I dunno, I saw this the other day and I thought it had a strong anti violence message. Think about it, everyone in the movie who takes up the lifestyle ends up having their life ruined. The main character's life only turn around when he gives up Hooliganism. Just my two cents.

 

I rented this last night, knowing it would pretty much suck.
Froddo? That guy is just a crappy actor (three expressions - "not understanding..", "scared.." and "really scared").
Clair Forlani - who used to be waaay good looking (remember that movie with Brad Pitt that is 3 hours long ...smoking in that) has clearly gotten a ton older (what happened to her forehead?).
She is a pretty weak on the acting side as well.
The main guy in the movie is ok, although clearly too much of a pretty-boy to be frightening to anybody.
His job in the movie is to be dangerous and likeable - but he just never seemed that dangerous, really.
The story is pretty silly - melodrama really, but what is clever is the cinematography and camera-work.
The fight scenes are very interestingly filmed - although the last fight with the horrid "one blood" song (blatant U2 lyric ripoff btw) was dumb.
My favorite scene is the one with the little kids at school playing soccer (football) and just scoring at will on Froddo who squirms in the dirt like a man-bitch.
I typically really like the British "kitchen-sink" drama style and the Brit-Scorcese 90s school of lowlife cinema (Lock Stock, Snatch, LAyer Cake..) but this movie is really pretty poseur.
Mostly, the movie seemed to be about zip turtleneck jackets and white trainers.
The east side of London looks dreadful - no wonder so many Brits from there move to places like Atlanta and Denver and LA and have a chip on their shoulder.

Does the movie glorify violence? Of course to tell the story you have to film it in an exiting way to pull viewers into the beginning and make it fun.
In the end it shows how violence ruins people - boy, we couldn't see that ending coming....
I would have liked to seen Froddo like 18 months later in some Fridays in Foxboro with a bunch of 18 year olds getting ready to see the NE Revolution and getting fired up and ready for fun - bringing the horrorshow to the US.

That would have been a different movie though.