Looking For Eric
a film even non football lovers will enjoy - mart1n
Ken Loach who directs "Looking For Eric", had some great success at the Cannes Film Festival this year and doing so despite taking in movie terms what would be more then most a less-weightier subject matter of football, And here we have Ken Loach who has come up with one of his most keenly effective and probably his most startling films to ever. Ken Loach really does manage here to strike at the very heart of the working class man and the football fan and somehow also conveying passion and love that comes from the terraces. In the movie we see actor Steve Evets who plays postman Eric Bishop, a man who is close to a full blown breakdown after his daughter asks him to meet up and talk to his ex-wife for the sake of his grandkid. He is now just a shadow of a man, who is belittled by his two stepchildren. The unlucky postie has the only saving grace of a strong friendship with some of his co-workers. And so, ultimately some help comes along from the most unlikeliest of sources Manchester United hero Eric Cantona, that great and illusive figure who always confounded his opponents and also journalists alike with his great mix of skill and a little bit philosophising. As we witness moments between the two Eric's, the director then invites the viewer to revel in some of Cantona's best moments in football, but here what really blindsides is the desperation that is felt by Eric Bishop and all the problems that are facing him. Ken Loach really is a master at blending both euphoria with melancholy and it works great and so it beautifully compliments the movie. And despite some of its real hard-hitting lows, in "Looking for Eric" we have maybe the one movie that I think best mirrors a football season, with its highs and its lows and everything inbetween.This is a startling film which is capped off by two incredible performances; Eric Bishop on film and Eric Cantona on the pitch. The best football film in my view ever made that isn't about football at all!
Review published on the 18 June 2009 19:14
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