The Damned United Reviews

[Highly rated reviewer]

Entertainment 2 - 1 Accuracy

This is not really a football film. It is a film about egos, self-destruction and love. That said, I'm not sure a viewer would be quite as quickly drawn in to it without at least some idea of who Brian Clough and Don Revie were (even though the film does do its best to explain this and give a good idea of what it meant for Brian Clough to be appointed Leeds United manager in 1974 after Don Revie's departure).

The positives are: a truly terrific performance by Michael Sheen (not simply because he does seem to be Brain Clough, but because of the humour, warmth and internal conflicts he shows within the man); a really strong supporting cast; and an amusing script.

The negatives have to be that I left the cinema still feeling that I did not really understand what caused the self-destructive demons with Brian Clough, and that I had been shown a decent tale at the expense of great dollops of truth or detail.

[Highly rated reviewer]

A film of two halves, Brian

As an adaptation of David Peace's The Damned United, I would rate this movie as a failure. Much of what made the novel so interesting and controversial, the fiery internal monologues, paranoia, fear and loathing and, yep, damnation, has been watered down here in the interest of functional storytelling. But there is still much to admire, including excellent turns by Sheen, Spall and Broadbent and assured direction which establishes a strong sense of time and place. Worth a watch but let down somewhat by its reluctance to go that extra mile in capturing Clough's erratic brand of genius.

[Highly rated reviewer]

A great British Film

I really enjoyed this movie.

I had received some negative hype about this when it was released in the cinema ~ many critics had marked it down on the basis that dramatic licence had been taken with the truth ~ but I ignored all this and watched on face value.

It's a wonderful little British movie with some genuine belly laugh moments - worth renting for Stephen Graham's under-nourished ginger wig alone (as Billy Bremner, a far cry from his role in This Is England). Michael Sheen is making a name as the chameleon of the cinema - and his behaviour and mannerisms here are so near to pure Clough as to be eerie at times.

You don't need to be a Footie fan or a Brian Clough fan to enjoy this movie. There's virtually no on-field football, as most of the drama takes place in the dingy tunnels and stale boardrooms of 1960's dilapidated football stadia (looking impressively authentic, and more like cow-sheds than the imposing arenas of today).

There's maybe a touch too much Kenneth Williams in Sheen's Clough, but Timothy Spall gives - as always - an incredibly moving portrayal of Clough's long suffering Bromance-partner, Peter Taylor (at times it's almost Brokeback to the Seventies, they are so close.)

Truth be told, it's nothing like the book - but then that's a good thing. This is Carry On Cloughy. The scene where he addresses the Leeds players for the first time is priceless.

I can't help thinking that the real Clough was much scarier than this one though - but this isn't a documentary, it's just a really good film.

Worst football film ever? Discuss!

Oh dear. I thought it might be a problem watching this if you had kind of expertise about the real story and the people concerned. But I was determined not to nit pick over historical accuracy etc. It's just entertainment, right? So you've got to cut them some slack over artistic licence. Fair enough. But even if you accept the 'never let the facts get in the way of a good story' approach you can't get away from the embarrassment of having a rag-bag bunch of wan, overweight actors trying to masquerade as a professional football team, let alone the ultimate 70s 'mean machine' that was Leeds United. Every scene involving training ground, game or dressing room was risible, almost as if it was being played for laughs. The dynamic duo, meanwhile, performed like a pair of clueless Sunday football managers. It wasn't all bad. Revie and Longson were spot on and it was entertaining for its unintentional comedy. But it might just be the worst football film ever - and that's some accolade!

Great Film - Shame About The Cars!!

Fantastic film and the makers have gone to great efforts to create the atmosphere of the day.

How is it then that every car seen was ancient early 60s models. No Marinas, Maxis, Allegros etc

Surely Clough would be driving to work in a Granada, not some clapped out 10 year old Zephyr!!!

How do film makers make such stupid mistakes???

Best footie film ever

Best footie film,waited ages to see this film well worth the wait 10/10.

michael sheen

Cracking film, with authentic detail and an absolutely spot-on performance from Michael Sheen, he absolutely nailed Brian Clough. Definitely one for the lads!

very entertaining

very entertaining and well worked film. even my wife, who doesn't like football, enjoyed this. recommended - very good.

Brilliant Brian

Been waiting to see this film for ages and missed it at the cinema. As a fan of Derby County it brought back memories of the old Baseball Ground a treat.

Although as we know this account of the happenings was somewhat sensationalised and made Mr Clough out to be much more of a confruntational character than he really was, this film is a great piece of work, very entertaining to watch.

The special features are a great addition too and brought a tear to my eye in remembering 'old big 'ed'. God bless you Brian

Look out for some real dodgy barnets on the Leeds players... :)

Not bad

Not certain there is a film in this, perhaps may have worked better on TV. Still, Spall and Sheen give strong performances and one can not doubt that Clough was a true one off. They seemed to have to make it a bit obvious though - Bremmner and Revie being the villans of the film.