MOVIEmeter
Top 5000
Up 2,982 this week

The Damned United (2009)

7.5
Your rating:
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 -/10 X  
Ratings: 7.5/10 from 20,189 users   Metascore: 81/100
Reviews: 68 user | 139 critic | 27 from Metacritic.com

A look at Brian Clough's 44-day reign as the coach of Leeds United.

Director:

Writers:

(screenplay), (novel)
Watch Trailer
0Check in
0Share...

User Lists

Related lists from IMDb users

a list of 703 titles created 03 May 2011
 
a list of 10000 titles created 2 months ago
 
a list of 3627 titles created 1 month ago
 
a list of 102 titles created 20 Dec 2010
 
a list of 55 titles created 09 Apr 2012
 

Connect with IMDb


Share this Rating

Title: The Damned United (2009)

The Damned United (2009) on IMDb 7.5/10

Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below.

Take The Quiz!

Test your knowledge of The Damned United.
5 nominations. See more awards »

Videos

Photos

Learn more

People who liked this also liked... 

Biography | Drama | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.9/10 X  

The story of James Braddock, a supposedly washed up boxer who came back to become a champion and an inspiration in the 1930s.

Director: Ron Howard
Stars: Russell Crowe, Renée Zellweger, Paul Giamatti
Biography | Drama | Sport
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.8/10 X  

The life story of New Zealander Burt Munro, who spent years building a 1920 Indian motorcycle -- a bike which helped him set the land-speed world record at Utah's Bonneville Salt Flats in 1967.

Director: Roger Donaldson
Stars: Anthony Hopkins, Iain Rea, Tessa Mitchell
The Hurricane (1999)
Biography | Drama | Sport
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.4/10 X  

The story of Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, a boxer wrongly imprisoned for murder, and the people who aided in his fight to prove his innocence.

Director: Norman Jewison
Stars: Denzel Washington, Vicellous Reon Shannon, Deborah Kara Unger
Raging Bull (1980)
Biography | Drama | Sport
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8.3/10 X  

An emotionally self-destructive boxer's journey through life, as the violence and temper that leads him to the top in the ring, destroys his life outside it.

Director: Martin Scorsese
Stars: Robert De Niro, Cathy Moriarty, Joe Pesci
Invincible (2006)
Biography | Drama | Sport
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7/10 X  

Based on the story of Vince Papale, a 30-year-old bartender from South Philadelphia who overcame long odds to play for the NFL's Philadelphia Eagles in 1976.

Director: Ericson Core
Stars: Mark Wahlberg, Greg Kinnear, Elizabeth Banks
Ed Wood (1994)
Biography | Comedy | Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8/10 X  

The mostly true story of the legendary director of awful movies and his strange group of friends and actors.

Director: Tim Burton
Stars: Johnny Depp, Martin Landau, Sarah Jessica Parker
Ali (2001)
Biography | Drama | Sport
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.7/10 X  

A biography of sports legend, Muhammad Ali, from his early days to his days in the ring.

Director: Michael Mann
Stars: Will Smith, Jamie Foxx, Jon Voight
Biography | Comedy | Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.4/10 X  

A film about the life and career of the eccentric avant-garde comedian, Andy Kaufman.

Director: Milos Forman
Stars: Jim Carrey, Gerry Becker, Greyson Erik Pendry
Comedy | Drama | Sport
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.5/10 X  

Black and white basketball hustlers join forces to double their chances.

Director: Ron Shelton
Stars: Wesley Snipes, Woody Harrelson, Rosie Perez
Mean Machine (2001)
Comedy | Drama | Sport
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.3/10 X  

A soccer star jailed for assault leads a group of inmates in a match against prison guards.

Director: Barry Skolnick
Stars: Vinnie Jones, David Kelly, David Hemmings
Biography | Comedy | Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.5/10 X  

An original mix of fiction and reality illuminates the life of comic book hero everyman Harvey Pekar.

Directors: Shari Springer Berman, Robert Pulcini
Stars: Chris Ambrose, Paul Giamatti, Harvey Pekar
The Express (2008)
Biography | Drama | Sport
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.1/10 X  

A drama based on the life of college football hero Ernie Davis, the first African-American to win the Heisman Trophy.

Director: Gary Fleder
Stars: Rob Brown, Dennis Quaid, Darrin Dewitt Henson
Edit

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
...
...
David Roper ...
...
Oliver Stokes ...
Ryan Day ...
...
...
...
...
...
...
Mark Cameron ...
Frank Skillin ...
Dylan Van Hoof ...
Edit

Storyline

Taking over England's top football club Leeds United, previously successful manager Brian Clough's abrasive approach and his clear dislike of the players' dirty style of play make it certain there is going to be friction. Glimpses of his earlier career help explain both his hostility to previous manager Don Revie and how much he is missing right-hand man Peter Taylor who has loyally stayed with Brighton & Hove Albion. Written by Jeremy Perkins {J-26}

Plot Summary | Plot Synopsis

Taglines:

"They love me for what I'm not... ...they hate me for what I am."


Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language | See all certifications »

Parents Guide:

 »
Edit

Details

Country:

Language:

Release Date:

27 March 2009 (UK)  »

Also Known As:

Az elátkozott Leeds United  »

Box Office

Budget:

$10,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$32,065 (USA) (9 October 2009)

Gross:

$449,558 (USA) (5 February 2010)
 »

Company Credits

Show detailed on  »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

Color:

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1
See  »
Edit

Did You Know?

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. See more »

Goofs

The commentator introduces Leeds as the League champions before the 27.01.68 game, but Manchester United were the reigning champions at the time. See more »

Quotes

Brian Clough: What are you doing? You weren't supposed to *accept* our resignations!
Sam Longson: Shouldn't bloody well offer them, then, should you?
Brian Clough: Look, you can't get rid of us. It would be a disaster for the club. For the whole of Derby!
Sam Longson: You can't keep shooting your mouth off the way you have been and issuing these ultimatums. With great reluctance, your resignations have been accepted.
Brian Clough: Look, you can't do this. It's madness.
Sam Longson: The decision stands. Car keys on the table and out.
Brian Clough: We're gonna create a footballing dynasty ...
[...]
See more »

Connections

Referenced in Creating Clough (2010) See more »

Soundtracks

"I Do Like to Be Beside the Seaside"
Written by John Glover Kind
See more »

Frequently Asked Questions

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.

User Reviews

 
Damned Brilliant
29 March 2009 | by (United Kingdom) – See all my reviews

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.


62 of 72 people found this review helpful.  Was this review helpful to you?

Message Boards

Recent Posts
Inaccuracies johnir
Why did Revie need to step down from Leeds? ArkhamsMostWanted
Soccer vs Football indieinvestment
ONLY A TRUE SOCCER FAN CAN APPRECIATE riithiz
How will this go down in the States? mark-earl
So, he hates everything about Leeds and their players... naxself
Discuss The Damned United (2009) on the IMDb message boards »

Contribute to This Page