George's story is not the Best

George Best remains one of the greatest footballers to have ever played the beautiful game. But this film following the rise and fall of Northern Ireland's infamous wayward son is a huge disappointment.

While the performances from the central characters are solid, we gain little insight into what took the shy boy from the Belfast estates to European Footballer of the year. We learn nothing of what changed a great sportsman into an alcoholic and a criminal. The film merely joins-the-dots of an oft told and well worn story, and fails to give the viewer any grasp of the reasons for, or causes of, the rise and fall of George Best. A story which is so incredible, a man who's life was almost too wild to be true - surely a film-makers dream? - is reduced to a cut-and-paste exercise in maintaining the legends and dispensing the myths, without any insight or comment into 'the man'. This film is for Best-diehards only, anyone with merely a passing interest in this amazing talent would be much better served by a documentary. Until a better writer and bigger budget do justice to the story of this flawed genius, 'Best' is in the Sunday Pub League of sports films, and not the Premiership