Bend It Like Beckham (2002)

Germany, United Kingdom, United States of America

Comedy, Drama, Romance, British Movies, English Movies, Hollywood Movies

Kintop Pictures, Bend It Films, Roc Media, Road Movies

Parminder Nagra, Keira Knightley, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Anupam Kher, Shaheen Khan, Archie Panjabi

Gurinder Chadha

Guljit Bindra, Paul Mayeda Berges, Gurinder Chadha

Taglines: Sometimes, to follow your dreams... you've got to bend the rules!

london, england, sports, tradition, culture clash, immigration, women's football (soccer), football (soccer), family, lgbt, woman director, british asian

Jess Bhamra, the daughter of a strict Indian couple in London, is not permitted to play organized soccer, even though she is 18. When Jess is playing for fun one day, her impressive skills are seen by Jules Paxton, who then convinces Jess to play for her semi-pro team. Jess uses elaborate excuses to hide her matches from her family while also dealing with her romantic feelings for her coach, Joe.

Reviews:

Author: Geronimo1967
"Jess" (Parminder Nagra) and "Jules" (Keira Knightly) are friends drawn together by their love of football. The thing is, neither of their mother's are exactly enamoured of the idea. With her sister's marriage looming, and her mother married at fifteen, "Jess" is facing significant hostility from her mother (Shaheen Khan) whilst "Jules" is struggling to convince her own mother (Juliet Stevenson) that she's not going to end up a lesbian with tree-trunk thighs. There's little danger of the former though as both have the hots for coach "Connor" (Jonathan Rhys Meyers). As the girls' team becomes more successful both have to juggle their family's reservations, their own lives and their love of the game - which actually features very sparingly. There are a few titter moments now and again, but I found that for the most part this is just a film about stereotypes - real or imaginary - populated by some really mediocre acting and not greatly enhanced by some banal writing and the always wooden JRM. It's also quite curious that it's co-produced by BSkyB yet they used the BBC's "Match of the Day" presentation team and their legendary commentator John Motson to give the thing a bit of body. It's harmless fun, quite possibly inspiring girls to play the game and some parents to let them whilst reminding us of "Brand Beckham" at it's most potent.