Bend it Like Beckham

Movie Title: Bend it Like Beckham
Official Website (it might still work): Bend it Like Beckham
Rating (out of 10): 6
Reviewed By: Michael Stevens
Buy the: Video/DVD \| Soundtrack
The Review:

Soccer or football? Football or soccer? American football or Australian Rules football? It’s just so weird how something is one thing one place and it is something else in another place. In the US we have elevators taking us up to our apartments where we watch TV, but those crazy Brits take a lift up to their flat and watch the tele. And on the TV we Americans watch soccer (ok, not many watch) while in the UK they watch their football. Regardless, this film isn’t really about football, soccer, or sports, but it does touch on the issue in a roundabout way through women’s lib. So here is what it really is about, growing up.

In the film we have young Jesminder Bhamra (Parminder K. Nagra), or Jess to her friends, growing up in London as a second-generation Indian immigrant. Her traditional Sikh father (Anupam Kher) is a pilot and her even more traditional mother (Shaheen Khan) is a homemaker. Also in the house is her older sister Pinky (Archie Panjabi) who is looking to get married to the boy she loves. Jess is about 17 years old and fancies football more than anything, and she is quite good. However, her parents do not want her to play football with the boys (who she beats) since it is not ladylike and goes against their conservative traditions, and it will not help her land a nice husband. But despite her parent’s misgivings, Jess continues to play and gets invited to play for an all-girls team led by Juliette Paxton (Keira Knighyley, Star Wars: Episode 1). Juliette, or Jules for short, is quite skilled and hopes to one day go to America and play in the WUSA alongside soccer superstars Mia Hamm and Tiffeny Milbrett. So Jess and Jules play football while their mothers worry about how their daughters will end up turning out after running around playing sports like boys. Plus we are shown the cultural differences between not only the Indian community and Anglo Britons, but also the cultural differences between the generations of Indian immigrants as well. And finally, there is the story of love between the girls’ coach Joe (Jonathan Rhys-Meyers) and Jess, and how that affects Jules and Jess’ relationship. Ok, one more thing was thrown in with Jess’ friend Tony (Ameet Chana) coming out of the closet. So, just lots of issues about growing up.

Bend It Like Beckham was nicely directed by Gurinder Chadha, who (along with Paul Mayeda Berges) also wrote the script. A few others of note in the film are Shaznay Lewis, Saraj Chaudhry, Trey Farley, Pooja Shah, Frank Harper, Juliet Stevenson, and Paven Virk.

One thing people need to realize is that this film is not that much like My Big Fat Greek Wedding. MBFGW was far more ethnic in character, and far more humorous than Bend It Like Beckham. This film is occasionally hilarious, but far more often does it just bring a smile to your face. It is much more of a feel-good/inspirational story than a comedy. The acting was OK, but really this is just your average growing-up story, but a well-done growing-up story. So, in the end I give the movie six couches out of ten.