Football Factory Details

This British drama from Goodbye Charlie Bright director Nick Love takes an unflinching look at soccer hooliganism and the thugs who get their kicks from it. Portraying several weeks in the lives of a firm of thugs who “support” Chelsea, it is a decently acted and clearly well-made film, but what is less evident is its moral stance. While not openly condoning the brutality it depicts, the movie doesn't actively condemn it either. Which is maybe why, before the official release, pirate copies of a rough cut were reportedly much prized by soccer's real-life bovver boys. Love's film is at its best when things are kept nice and gritty, with Frank Harper in particularly menacing form as an ageing hooligan who's old enough to know better. However, the crisis of conscience faced by Danny Dyer's character is less well handled and ultimately lacks conviction.

Like many young men of his ilk, Tommy Johnson (Dyer) lives for leisure: 'Casual sex, watered-down lager, heavily cut... read more on Time Out