Bend It Like Beckham (2002)

The daughter of orthodox Sikh rebels against her parents' traditionalism by running off to Germany with a football team (soccer in America).

Director:

Gurinder Chadha

Writers:

Gurinder Chadha, Guljit Bindra,

Stars:

Parminder Nagra, Keira Knightley, Jonathan Rhys Meyers

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 17 wins & 18 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Parminder Nagra	...	Jesminder 'Jess' Kaur Bhamra
Keira Knightley	...	Juliette 'Jules' Paxton
Jonathan Rhys Meyers	...	Joe
Anupam Kher	...	Mr. Bhamra
Archie Panjabi	...	Pinky Bhamra
Shaznay Lewis	...	Mel
Frank Harper	...	Alan Paxton
Juliet Stevenson	...	Paula Paxton
Shaheen Khan	...	Mrs. Bhamra
Ameet Chana	...	Tony
Pooja Shah	...	Meena (as Poojah Shah)
Paven Virk	...	Bubbly
Preeya Kalidas	...	Monica
Trey Farley	...	Taz
Saraj Chaudhry	...	Sonny (as Saraj Chaudry)

Storyline

A comedy about bending the rules to reach your goal, Bend It Like Beckham explores the world of women's football, from kick-abouts in the park to freekicks in the Final. Set in Hounslow, West London and Hamburg, the film follows two 18 year olds with their hearts set on a future in professional soccer. Heart-stopping talent doesn't seem to be enough when your parents want you to hang up your football boots, find a nice boyfriend and learn to cook the perfect chapatti.

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Plot Keywords:

team | soccer | shorts | sikh | punjabi | 

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Taglines:

Who wants to cook Aloo Gobi when you can bend a ball like Beckham?

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance | Sport

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for language and sexual content

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [nl] Official site [us]

Country:

UK Germany USA

Language:

English Panjabi Hindi German

Release Date:

1 August 2003 (USA)

Also Known As:

Joue-la comme Beckham

Filming Locations:

Bara Hall Park, Hayes, Middlesex, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

£3,500,159 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$161,528 (USA) (14 March 2003)

Gross:

$32,541,719 (USA) (17 October 2003)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Kintop Pictures, Film Council, Filmförderung Hamburg

Technical Specs

Runtime:

112 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The first Western film allowed to be shown in North Korea.

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Goofs

During the final match (while Jess is still changing in the car), when the first goal is scored, a completely different ball is shown going into the net.

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Quotes

[explaining to Joe how she got the large burn scar on her thigh that makes her shy of wearing shorts]
Jess: I was eight. My mum was working overtime at Heathrow. And I was trying to cook beans on toast. And I jumped up to the grill to get the toast. And my trousers caught light so my sister put me in the bath, poured cold water over me and pulled them off. And half my skin came off too.
Joe: Sorry.
Jess: I know - it put me off beans on toast for life.

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Crazy Credits

There are no character names in the cast list except "Hounslow Harriers" for the minor players on the team.

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Connections

Referenced in Movie Connections: Bend It Like Beckham (2007)

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Soundtracks

"Inner Smile"
(2000)
Written by John McElhone, Sharleen Spiteri, Rick Nowels and Gregg Alexander
Published by EMI 10 Music Ltd./EMI Music Publishing Ltd., Keeping It Real How Bout You Music Publishing
Warner / Chappell Music Publishing Ltd. and Grosse Point Harlem Publishing
Performed by Texas
Courtesy of Mercury Records Ltd. (London)

User Reviews

So much more than you'd expect!

As an anti-football person, I (on the surface) grudgingly took my younger brother to see this film, although secretly I hoped it might be East is East II. The trailers looked fun so I thought I'd give it a go.

It took about ten minutes but after that I was glued to the screen, and that wasn't anything to do with the neck cramp caused by sitting too near the front due to a packed auditorium. The acting was fresh and vibrant, the characters engaging, and the jokes genuinely funny. The entire auditorium was laughing out loud every minute or so. Football fan or no football fan, sport became irrelevant to the main principles of love, friendship, family, independence and rivalry. Add a dash of Sikh culture and you have the formula for the best British comedy I've seen in a long time, dare I say it.... better than East is East.

This film trots along nicely at a lovely pace, never dwelling on anything longer than necessary nor leaving anything unfinished, keeping the viewer entertained and mentally engaged. Though not a characteristically twisting-and-turning film, there are some pleasant surprises on the way and things don't always happen as you would expect.

Saying that, there were elements of predictability but these were exploited satirically more than used as script-fillers. I suppose depending on your particular penchant for happy-endings you could be either delighted/let down by the ending. Personally, if there was any other outcome I would have written a strongly worded letter to the script writers.

As for the actors, I would have to say that Juliet Stevenson (Paula) put in the finest performance. I never knew that people like that existed but she her realism with sometimes bizarre concepts has convinced me that they possibly do! Prize for the most unconvincing (of the main characters) goes, unfortunately, to Kiera Knightley (Jules), but don't get me wrong, even she offered a great performance, it's just that someone has to be last of the best and sorry Kiera, this time you're it.

Tip: Don't leave before the credits. Once the lights came back up I realised to my horror that perhaps I shouldn't have watched this film after all. My beloved but forgotten Ice Junkie had melted into a sugary blue juice. Oh, what am I saying, it was absolutely brill and I can't recommend it enough. I will definitely buy it when it comes out and add it to my collection of 3 videos. I'm a student. I only splash out if it's really worth it.