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The Damned United (2009)
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Overview
User Rating:
Director:
Writers:
Release Date:
27 March 2009 (UK)
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Tagline:
"They love me for what I'm not... ...they hate me for what I am."
Plot:
A look at Brian Clough's 44-day reign as the coach of Leeds United. full summary | full synopsis
Awards:
1 nomination
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NewsDesk:
(173 articles)
Helena Bonham Carter Joins “The King’s Speech”
(From Filmofilia. 16 November 2009, 12:23 PM, PST)
Noble actors crowned for The King's Speech
(From Corona's Coming Attractions. 16 November 2009, 7:43 AM, PST)
(From Filmofilia. 16 November 2009, 12:23 PM, PST)
Noble actors crowned for The King's Speech
(From Corona's Coming Attractions. 16 November 2009, 7:43 AM, PST)
User Comments:
Damned Brilliant
more (32 total)
Cast
(Cast overview, first billed only) | Colm Meaney | ... | Don Revie |
 | Henry Goodman | ... | Manny Cussins |
| David Roper | ... | Sam Bolton |
 | Jimmy Reddington | ... | Keith Archer |
| Oliver Stokes | ... | Nigel Clough |
| Ryan Day | ... | Simon Clough |
 | Michael Sheen | ... | Brian Clough |
| Mark Bazeley | ... | Austin Mitchell |
 | Timothy Spall | ... | Peter Taylor |
 | Maurice Roëves | ... | Jimmy Gordon |
| Stephen Graham | ... | Billy Bremner |
| Peter McDonald | ... | Johnny Giles |
| Mark Cameron | ... | Norman Hunter |
| Frank Skillin | ... | Younger Nigel Clough |
| Dylan Van Hoof | ... | Younger Simon Clough |
Additional Details
MPAA:
Rated R for language.
Parents Guide:
Runtime:
98 min
Language:
Color:
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Certification:
UK:15 |
Ireland:15A |
USA:R (certificate #45085) |
Portugal:M/12 |
Finland:K-11 |
Canada:14A (Alberta/Ontario) |
Canada:G (Quebec) |
Canada:14A (Ontario) |
Sweden:7 |
Singapore:NC-16
Filming Locations:
Fun Stuff
Trivia:
The scenes in the film set at the Derby County training ground were actually filmed in Leeds at a football pitch ironically overlooking the Leeds United stadium.
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Goofs:
Factual errors: Brian Clough seems to resign on behalf of Peter Taylor in the film, but English law makes it impossible to resign on behalf of another person.
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Quotes:
Sam Longson:
His salary's 300 quid a week? You can't pay a footballer that!
Brian Clough: That's the way things are going, Uncle Sam...
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Brian Clough: That's the way things are going, Uncle Sam...
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Movie Connections:
Featured in "De wereld draait door: (#4.124)" (2009)
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Soundtrack:
Flight of the Rat
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FAQ
This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.more (32 total)
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Football has been poorly served by the cinema to date. "The Damned United" goes a long way to rectifying that. A bravura performance from Martin Sheen as Brian Clough and a faithful, intelligent screenplay by Peter Morgan combine with a well chosen storyline to deliver a convincing tale. Crucially, this is not a film about football, it uses football as a framework for ambition, greed, success, failure, friendship and love.
The traditional traps surrounding a football film are avoided. "Live" action is limited, and team sequences brief. Consequently the characters are given a chance to breathe and develop , not just Clough's, but those of Peter Taylor, marvellously captured by Timothy Spall, and others . Chairmen Manny Cousins and Sam Longson enjoy rewarding cameo parts and the footballers themselves are picked as actors rather than surrogate footballers.
Critics may carp about the odd anachronism and unconvincing physical shape of the Leeds United team in particular but it is the ego of Brian Clough which bestrides this story. The 90 minutes barely does justice to his 45 days at Leeds as his career up to the appointment is interwoven into the main tale. Although faction is a dangerous device, for me it does justice to both the lovingly recreated era and the characters. Cloughs family have apparently repudiated this work, which is a shame. It is broadly favourable with the wrinkles as foibles rather than damnable weaknesses.
The film closes with a re-creation of the YTV interview with Clough and Revie sitting side by side immediately following Clough's dismissal. The atmosphere is electric, Clough is surprisingly conciliatory whilst Revie delivers an, "I told you so", tour de force. Echoes of the Sheen/Morgan collaboration Frost / Nixon abound as does the repeated device of the late night telephone call from the arch protagonists, this time Clough to Revie, last time Nixon to Frost. The final reconciliation between Clough and Taylor is as brave a depiction of a male platonic relationship as has been screened for a very long time.
A triumph for all concerned.