Mike Bassett: England Manager (2001)

This is the one film I pass along to my friends. Not because they are football/soccer fans. It doesn't matter if they are or not. Forget the synopsis. The central story is that of the England Manager. Let's admit it, he's a bit of a screw up. He picks the wrong players for his team, picks his assistants for the wrong reasons. He only gets the England job because the men the FA really want to give it to refuse to accept it. But there is something very very likable about him. He is in a way, an everyman. Someone who tries hard but life seems to give a few kicks to. Like most of us.

This is a comedy, make no mistake. But what separates it from average is it's heart. When England struggle game after game and the dream job turns to a nightmare for the manager we watch as the stress takes hold. It even starts to tear apart his personal life. It culminates at the media center just before England final group stage match and just after Mr. Bassett has been caught in a display of public drunkenness.

There, the men of the press, the self appointed voice of the public, demand his resignation. When he refuses, it causes a riot with cat calls from certain reporters. Quietly, while the reporters scream, Bassett reads the Kipling poem. A poem that has been his personal mantra through life. Which basically says stay true to your heart and do what you know is right. His poem silences his critics and upon completion he utters the now famous (for us Mike Bassett lovers) "England will be playing four, four, fu**ing two!" Which really is an exclamation mark for the poem. Stay true to your heart. And in this case, England do what you do best.

If I have made a mess of explaining why I love this film I only say this. Thank you to the filmmakers for this little bit of brilliance. It's hard enough to find a film that makes you laugh. But finding one that makes you laugh and touches your heart at the same time is indeed rare.

Fmovies: Not everyone will like or understand this film, but for those who do this is a brutally funny satirical comedy and a very accurate reflection of English attitudes towards the national football team. 'Mike Bassett: England Manager' is probably one of my personal favourite mockumentaries and a film I always return to for a good laugh, especially when the World Cup / Euros are on.

Ricky Tomlinson is what makes this film with his hilarious performance as Mike Bassett. I doubt any actor could have done as good a job, he was perfect for this role and many of the laughs are down to him. It would have been great if the rumours of a sequel would have materialised, we need more of Mike Bassett! A very funny and accurate mockumentary, not for everyone but a much watch for those who enjoy British satire.

When the stress of the job gives the manager of England's national football team a stroke, the call goes out to Europe to find a quality manager to take over. When that call goes unanswered the FA are forced to look within the English game and, having been turned down by everyone else, employ Division 1 manager Mike Bassett who has just won the cup with Norwich. With three games left and one win needed to get into the World Cup finals, can Mike's strategy of the standard 4-4-2, aggressive old-school captain and rubbish penalty takers see the team through the qualification stages? This film was pretty well timed when it was released because, with Sven in charge it looked like the days of uninspiring old-school English football managers who shout and swear were long over and so it was easier to laugh at the "old days" being sent up by this film. Of course watching it now, jokes about England underachieving are perhaps not that funny (although as a Northern Ireland supporter I can always find a chuckle when it comes to English misfortune). However, if you are a follower of football in England then this film will be enjoyable even if it is pretty basic and lines up loads of easy targets from the start. The actual "plot" is not that good and the cracks do begin to show in the final third when it goes from a series of jokes to try and become an actual narrative but, aside from these problems it surprised me by how entertaining it was. Of course I wasn't roaring with laughter but it sent up plenty of easy targets and had enough going for it to keep me consistently amused and interested and, as with all sports movies, the "must win" game with pumping music is always an easy thing to pull out of the bag.

The cast are fairly obvious and it is no wonder that none of them were mentioned when the awards ceremonies came around. Tomlinson is a convincing old-style manager who sends up Graham Taylor in particular with his comparison to vegetables and his swearing rants. He brings out some compassion from the character although I felt that the subplot with his family suffering abuse was poorly handled and seemed out of place. Support is good with the targets all covered, from the old men of the FA to the bloodlust journalists and fighting English thugs. None of them really do anything special but Walsh, Jackson, Jupitus and others are supported well with cameos from Pele, Basir and a few others.

Overall this isn't a particularly clever film but it has plenty of easy targets to aim at and it does manage to hit most of them. It isn't hilarious but I found it consistently amusing throughout, although it did weaken a bit towards the end. Outside of football fans and those with a knowledge of England I can't imagine this film going down too well but if you are in both of those camps then it is likely that you'll enjoy this even if it is fairly basic stuff.

Mike Bassett: England Manager fmovies. Unlike most football related films this one actually references real football rather than a dreamy game that the good guys always win in the end.

As with any sport related movie though it has limited appeal outside of someone that has an interest and understanding of the "Beautiful Game". In this case more so as really you need to be English and have suffered English international football to understand everything the film has to offer.

The jokes don't always 'hit the back of the net' but there is no need to 'send this one off' - (sorry for the puns).

On the whole an enjoyable diversion that sometimes does cut close to the bone (especially as the F.A. are falling apart us as I write this).

Nobody wants the England manager's job so the Football Association appoint Norwich City's Mike Bassett (Tomlinson) mainly on the strength of his team's victory in the third rate Clutch Cup! Bassett might not be the world's most tactically astute manager, but the journeyman ex-player possesses an undoubted love and passion for the beautiful game and an ambition (with the notable influence of Rudyard Kipling) to win the World Cup!!!

Grossly unsubtle and saturating hits on it's obvious targets, MB:EM is nevertheless a frequently likeable, occasionally hilarious and poignantly accurate journey on the roller-coaster that is following an under-achieving football giant towards potential footballing Shangri-La. The barbs against the FA despite being razor sharp become tediously repetitive and the character assassination of Paul Gascoigne verges on slanderous but, despite these qualms, the basic premise and the story's foundations are undeniably heartfelt and evocative: The crap qualifying; the false promise borne from results beyond our control; the singular world-beating performance and the 'bridge to far' appearance against feted opposition. All these elements fit snugly into the mockumentary style and, together with Tomlinson's energetic, frenetic and ultimately sympathetic performance (the 'forlorn loser in the hotel bedroom' scene towards the end is class pathos) create a worthy cinematic addition to our (attempts at) understanding of why twenty two men kicking a sphere around a field might cause us such replete apoplexy!

And it erases When Saturday Comes from the record of last great (!) English football pic!

took the girlfriend to see this one and apart from the few sight gags she didnt really get any of the jokes. However if you are a fan of the beautiful game this will tickle you immensely. There are loads of football in-jokes such as the 'gazza', Stuart Pearce/Vinnie Jones and Ian Wright characters. Very much in the Peter Kay style of understated spoofs

3/10 if you're not into football 9/10 if you are