"Green Street Hooligans" Review

This film is one that I wanted to see a long time ago. For some reason, I think Justin owns it, but I never borrow it from him. I should have. Because, I really enjoyed the flick.

It's got two things that I'm really interested in: Football (Soccer) and London.

The flick opens with Elijah Wood's character, Matt, getting kicked out of Harvard. He took the fall for his roommate, to save him from getting expelled - because his roommate's father is in politics.

Matt then heads over to London to meet up with his sister - played by the beautiful Claire Forlani, and he meets his brother-in-law, Steve, for the first time. Not long after he arrives, he's hanging out with Steve's brother, Pete. Pete quickly introduces him to his world of Football.

Here's the thing about Pete: From the first time I saw him, I swore I know the actor - but I couldn't figure out who it was. Halfway through the flick I had to look it up, because it was bothering me so badly. It turns out the he's played by Charlie Hunnam - who played Jay Baruchel's British Thespian Roommate Lloyd, on "Undeclared". I didn't recognize him with his head shaved in this film, but I knew I knew the actor - and I was right. So, that was a pretty cool added bonus to the film.

So, the flick starts off as a Football Film. The first 30 minutes or so are really about this group of guys and their love for West Ham United, it follows them from the pub to the stadium. Following his first game, Matt gets involved in his first fight. And then the film strays away from it's focus on football, and transfers to this group of guys and their loyalties.

Despite his being a "Yank", Matt quickly earns credit within the group of men. There's some pretty typical dramatic moments in the film, and it has a couple of small twists, but nothing that's outrageous. And one of them I feel pretty stupid for not putting together on my own.

Near the end, it does a good job of testing character's loyalties and their promises they've made. And when some of the main characters have to make choices, it's done in a very dramatic fashion that comes off sincere.

I really enjoyed the film, and I thought the acting was pretty good for what it was. It's not an overly dramatic film, and there's not really any seriously dramatic scenes that required exquisite top-notch acting. So, the story itself did a pretty good job of keeping me entertained, and I was never bored.

4 Stars out of 5.