The Damned United

This movie has box office poison written all over it like graffiti on a bridge overpass in New Jersey. It's about soccer. It's British. The only thing it is missing is subtitles! To win over American audiences, The Damned United has to be The Godfather of British soccer movies or The Titanic of British soccer movies. It kind of comes close.

Based on the true story, Michael Sheen stars as Brian Clough - a controversial, brash, but successful soccer manager in England in 1974 (I know they call it football, but I have to show the American spirit by calling it soccer. God bless America.). He has spent the last several years criticizing the nation's leading team, Leeds United, and its legendary coach, Don Revie (Colm Meaney), while propelling his low level club into the first division, and winning a championship. Now, Revie is leaving, and the directors of Leeds United want Clough to take over the club.

Will Clough be able to win over the players he has constantly denigrated for the last several years?

Will the fans ever embrace him?

The Damned United is a brilliant showcase for Sheen, and that's the best reason to see the movie. He shows you Clough's cocky cheekiness, brash exterior and unstoppable drive. Yet, Sheen is even better when Clough is on the verge of failure and shock. It's one of those performances where he brings the character to life without making us feel he is acting at any point.

Sheen pulls no punches as he fills Clough with intensity as well as blind rage against his enemies. The story, as well as his acting, makes you wonder if the rivalry between Clough and Leeds United is started by the manager for his own personal motivation, or if something really did happen to offend him so much he dedicated his every moment in life to destroying Leeds United and Revie. It's like a mini-mystery for the audience to uncover while watching it play out on screen.

The screenplay by Peter Morgan is based on a controversial novel by David Peace (some people involved with the real story have objected to the facts), so it is possible not everything on screen is exactly how it happened. If that is the case, Sheen deserves even more credit for making Clough into the character we see and can't get enough of.

Morgan does a wonderful job writing the relationship between Clough and his right hand man, Peter Taylor (Timothy Spall), as we see the love, hate, betrayal and undeniable bond between the two men as they become more and more successful. While Sheen is brilliantly boisterous, Spall deserves just as much credit for being quiet and subtle. It's one of the best pairings you will see in a movie.

Director Tom Hooper and editor Melanie Oliver magnificently structure the movie on two tracks as we watch Clough managing Leeds United, while using flashbacks to show us the history and actions that made it a doomed affair and help explain why everyone is puzzled by his new assignment.

Even if you don't like sports or soccer, The Damned United is a movie that will capture your attention because it is a wonderful story, excellently told and without all sorts of manufactured drama that has nothing to do with the plot at hand (No sappy stuff about his family!).

The Damned United is rated R for language.