The Damned United (2009)

I had a few reservations about this film. Firstly we have seen Michael Sheen play a number of real life people in the last couple of years. Would it be possible for Sheen to cast aside these previous roles and play another big well known (in the UK) character in Brian Clough. I also had the distinct feeling that this may be a made for TV film that was bumped up to a theatrical release based on Sheen's recent success. My final reservation was whether the football would look good as it is frequently very poor when played by actors.

I have got to say that I thoroughly enjoyed the film. The main focus of the film is the relationship between the young pretender in football management Clough and the master in Don Revie the Manager of Leeds United. The film focuses on Clough's short tenure as the manager of Leeds after replacing Revie in 1974. The lead performances by Sheen and Meaney are excellent and it is at least as enthralling as the Frost/Nixon interplay.

It is a perfect film for me as it covers a period when my football passion was at its peak as I was about 10 years old at the time. As for the reservations I had nothing to worry about with Sheen. He transforms into Clough and it is truly a remarkable portrayal. I still tend to think that the film wouldn't lose very much on the small screen. Finally the film cleverly uses real life footage and we see very little of the actors playing football. That's probably just as well as they seemed a little older than the real players were. I'll have to check their bios to confirm that, but Bremner and Clarke looked the wrong side of 40 to me.

I suspect that to get the most out of the film you'll probably need to like football, but if you do you're more or less guaranteed to enjoy it.

Fmovies: I enjoyed Damned United particularly Michael Sheen's performance as Brian Clough. The film is cleverly written and fun to watch. The film makes Clough seem a much more sympathetic character than he appeared at the time. Many people including myself felt that Clough was an arrogant twit with an amazing ability to lose friends and alienate people. Sheen makes him seem likable. Clough had his demons and was a complicated man. Clough's methods were unique. He was essentially a dictator, and not always a benevolent one, often punching or slapping his players. What can't be argued was that he was a great and very successful football manager.

Clough's record was remarkable. He won the English championship with different provincial teams, neither of which is currently in the Premier League. He won the European Cup twice with Nottingham Forest. In 1973 his Derby team lost in the semi-finals to Juventus. Clough called the Italian team "cheating bastards." A later London Sunday Times investigation claimed that Clough was right and Derby's opponents had bribed the match officials. Nothing was ever done about this by FIFA or EUFA, some things never change.

As a Leeds United supporter, who lived through Clough's 44 days at the club, I don't feel the film portrayed the events fairly or accurately. I don't remember the Leeds team being particularly violent, the game was certainly more physical then and players received less protection from referees.

The film depicts Billy Bremner, Norman Hunter and Johnny Giles as boorish thugs. Bremner was a hard man but he was also a very skillful player. He was captain of Scotland in the 1974 World Cup and has been inducted into both the English and Scottish Halls of Fame. Giles was at the time also the manager of the Irish national team. Hunter played 28 times for England. Don Revie was a great man who took Leeds from the old Second Division to two First Division championships and two European trophies. The film doesn't really explain how he was able to win the loyalty of the Leeds players. In movies it's just easier to show everything in black and white terms.

One thing the film does get right is the lack of money in football back then. When Peter Taylor was at Brighton he offered my best friend a professional contract. My friend decided to go to university instead. With the DVD this is an additional feature in which three idiots masquerading as "experts" discuss football in the 1970s. One of them thought Norman Hunter was Scottish. Another couldn't believe that the Leeds players were educated enough to understand Revie's tactical reports. Anyone who has played the game at any level knows that football intelligence does not correlate with academic success. I've played football with very smart streetwise kids who left school at 16, on the field they were tactically astute. Sir Alex Ferguson, the manager of Manchester United, was a shipyard worker before he became a footballer.

Overall I enjoyed the movie. It was clever and well written and Michael Sheen is brilliant as Clough.

Peter Morgan (Writer of The Queen and Frost/Nixon) reunites for the third time with Michael Sheen (Leading actor of The Queen and Frost/Nixon) as the two men look to complete a hat-trick. Michael Sheen can tick off another box on his list of his portrayals of iconic Englishmen as his witty performance is a key reason for what makes The Damned United a joy to watch. The performances stand out with many well done performances by the leading cast, in particular Sheen and Spall who show a very impressive on screen relationship.

The film can get confusing at times as it follows two different stories, switching frequently from Brian Clough's miraculous time at Derby County and his disappointing and shambolic time at Derby's then rivals Leeds United. The film doesn't get involved in Clough's personal life but focuses on his career with both clubs, starting off with Clough viewed firstly as a small-time 2nd Division manager to a arrogant manager on top of the Division 1, another key issue is his close friendship with his assistant Peter Taylor (Timothy Spall) and hatred of the man who preceded him as Leeds boss, Don Revie (Colm Meaney). While at Leeds the key points of focus is Clough's determination to replace Don Revie as a hero in Leeds and 'father figure' as well his poor relationship with the players and the end to his arrogance. Many people may feel that The Damned United is just for football fans, and even though it may appeal more to football fans it's an entertaining film and a joy to watch.

The Damned United fmovies. Michael Sheen (The Queen, Frost/Nixon), Jim Broadbent (Moulin Rouge! , Longford), Timothy Spall (Michael Sheen), and Colm Meaney (How Harry Became a Tree) are all great actors, and their presence means that this film is worth watching even if you don't particularly like football. I doubt however, you would be watch if you weren't a fan.

Brian Clough (Sheen) brings Derby out of obscurity to the top and ends up managing his archenemy Leeds United. He hates the team, he hates the style of football they play, and yet, he signs on to manage them. A recipe for disaster, and a disaster it was.

The film is not so much about football, as it is about Clough. He makes enemies everywhere he goes. No wonder he only lasted 44 days.

A fantastic film with brilliant performances by Sheen and Spall.

Having read the book, I did expect a darker film, however, it is not to the detriment of the film that it attempts to give the interpretation a 'feel good factor. Sheen is utterly brilliant as Clough and captures the ego, charisma and above all weakness of the man. The support cast are excellent, although Spall did struggle to look comfortable in a sporting film (Taylor was en ex goalie and poor Tim's got 10 to 2 feet etc). There are a lot of factual inaccuracies, but it is based on a 'faction novel' so one should not allow this to spoil a memorable film and if it does nothing else it does make you feel extremely nostalgic to this era.

The life of the egocentric one gets the big screen treatment - another feather in his cap, and one to put over Shanks, Busby, Mercer, Allison, Paisley etc. The fact he shares the spotlight with Don Revie would be his only disappointment. One may find the numerous anachronisms and inaccuracies distracting, i.e. Dave Mackay had left Derby before Clough and Taylor's resignation, and that 5-0 Leeds triumph came the year after County's championship triumph (or robbery as devout Geldard Enders would maintain) - I know, I was there that great day wallowing in revenge for the previous year's injustices.

Without resorting to caricature, Sheen effortlessly conveys Clough's rampant narcissism and hubris. His obsession with Revie is portrayed as something he needs to work out of his system before getting his life back on keel. Revie is depicted as such a cartoon villain that one is almost disappointed that he doesn't appear clad in top hat and black cloak, chuckling evilly as he twirls his moustache and ties Cloughs' two sons to the railway line. Colm Meaney is uncanny in his depiction of the Elland Road supremo and his face captures the haunted look of the man who must have felt the fates were against him at times. Spall seems physically miscast as Taylor but puts across the fact that Pete was Clough's often unheeded moral conscience - a fact illustrated by how Clough went to the bad in his later years at Forest when Taylor wasn't around. Jim Broadbent is every provincial businessman made good as Sam Longson who must have needed the patience of a saint in his latter years at Derby.

Occasionally, the script's pace works against it. Clough and Taylor have barely signed the contract with Mike Bamber when they're off to Majorca. It might have been better to have a scene or two showing their tribulations at Brighton which increased Clough's desire to snatch at the first decent offer that came his way. I still remember hearing the humiliating defeat they suffered at home to Bristol Rovers on the coach back from Elland Road on the radio - and the ensuing hysterical laughter. To think, one year later, we were laughing the other side of our faces.