Best

There's nothing like a good film, and this shoddy biography of soccer genius George Best is nothing like a good film. Normally, it's the match scenes that let football films down: you either have actors who can't play, or players who can't act. Ironically, though, Best's match scenes, a blend of grainy original footage and cleverly integrated re-creations, are one of its few plus points. The bulk of the film, however, focuses on George's downward spiral into alcoholism and unfulfilled potential. It's muddled in structure, melodramatic in direction and boringly repetitive. Worse still, it offers no real insight into George's flawed genius. A quality cast includes Ian Bannen, Ian Hart, Patsy Kensit, Linus Roache and Roger Daltrey, but they've little to work with: the storyline's episodic, the script poor. John Lynch is 20 years too old to play young George, while Jerome Flynn, as Bobby Charlton, looks more like his brother Jack. There may have been magic in George's boots, but precious little has rubbed off on this movie.

A narrative that sticks to the facts, following Best from his early days to his later incarnation as an after-dinner entertainer in the 90s, but offering very little insight into the man or his problems.