Mike Bassett: England Manager (2001)

The manager of England's national football unexpectedly succumbs to a heart attack, and suddenly the search is on for a replacement. Most people who seem qualified for the position have the... See full summary »

Director:

Steve Barron

Writers:

John R. Smith, Rob Sprackling

Stars:

Ricky Tomlinson, Amanda Redman, Bradley Walsh

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ricky Tomlinson	...	Mike Bassett
Amanda Redman	...	Karine Bassett
Bradley Walsh	...	Dave Dodds
Philip Jackson	...	Lonnie Urquart
Phill Jupitus	...	Tommo Thompson
Dean Lennox Kelly	...	Kevin Tonkinson
Martin Bashir	...	Interviewer
Robbie Gee	...	Smallsy
Pelé	...	Himself
Kevin Piper	...	Norwich newsreader
Robert Putt	...	Jack Marshall
Malcolm Terris	...	Phil Cope
Philip Dunbar	...	Sussex rep
Ulrich Thomsen	...	Dr. Hans Shoegaarten
Lloyd McGuire	...	Midlands rep

Storyline

The manager of England's national football unexpectedly succumbs to a heart attack, and suddenly the search is on for a replacement. Most people who seem qualified for the position have the good sense to turn it down, and so the responsibility falls to Mike Bassett, a scruffy and loud-mouthed lout whose claim to football fame is leading a previously undistinguished team to a league championship. Bassett insists that England will win the World Cup under his leadership, but that's before he replaces his star player with a once-gifted footballer who has since developed a drinking problem, and hired a one-time car salesman as his assistant. After stunning losses to Poland and Belgium, Bassett goes from a favorite of both fans and the press to one of the most hated men in England; hoping to whip his team into shape, he subjects them to the high-tech training methods of eccentric Dr. Shoegaarten, which injures more players than it helps. Despite Bassett's ineptitude, England manages to ...

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Plot Keywords:

england | world cup | manager | bus | pool | 

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Taglines:

He Knows F.A. About Football.

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Genres:

Comedy | Sport

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English Portuguese

Release Date:

28 September 2001 (UK)

Also Known As:

A menedzser

Filming Locations:

Apollo Pub, Harrow, Middlesex, England, UK

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

£835,219 (UK) (28 September 2001)

Gross:

£3,443,174 (UK) (2 November 2001)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Artists Independent Productions, Film Council, Hallmark Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

89 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Most of the England Footballers are in Sky One's hit show 'Dream Team'. The whole of the Wembley pitch was re-laid for the film and 80,000 extras were hired to fill seats.

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Goofs

The second match on the final tournament is played June 19, and the third match is played July 7, which is 18 days later. The break between two group games on the World Cup is usually between 3 and 5 days.

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Quotes

Interviewer: ...And what would your father say if he could see you now?
Mike: Oh, he'd probably quote Kipling or something, 'Walk with kings and all that' You see, he was like a father figure to me
Interviewer: Well, obviously...

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Connections

Features Dream Team (1997)

User Reviews

Great

A great piece of work, the men responsible for the movie chose the right attitude by using the angle of comedy, cause that's the only way to make a sports movie, a sports event can never be moved to the screen succesfully (except maybe Chariots of Fire) in a realistic way since the whole idea of it is that you don't have clue who's going to win until it's all over.

Although I'm not from the UK I did get most of the jokes since I follow footie a lot and am a big fan of the game.

a big thumbs up for the crew and actors, "Mike Bassett" is simply brilliant.