When Saturday Comes (1996)

Jimmy Muir is a hard-drinking brewery worker in the city of Sheffield, with an arrogant lack of respect for authority. His entire life has been orientated by football and he possesses the ... See full summary »

Director:

Maria Giese

Writers:

James Daly, Maria Giese

Stars:

Sean Bean, Emily Lloyd, Pete Postlethwaite

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sean Bean	...	Jimmy Muir
Emily Lloyd	...	Annie Doherty
Pete Postlethwaite	...	Ken Jackson
Craig Kelly	...	Russell Muir
John McEnery	...	Joe Muir
Ann Bell	...	Sarah Muir
Melanie Hill	...	Mary Muir
Chris Walker	...	Mac
John Higgins	...	Rob
Tim Gallagher	...	Steve
Peter Gunn	...	Tommy
Nick Waring	...	Gary
James McKenna	...	George McCabe
Tony Currie	...	Tony Currie
Mel Sterland	...	Captain

Storyline

Jimmy Muir is a hard-drinking brewery worker in the city of Sheffield, with an arrogant lack of respect for authority. His entire life has been orientated by football and he possesses the potential, but has never had the courage or discipline to make anything of it. Jimmy is spotted by Ken Jackson, whilst playing for his pub team. Ken is the manager of Hallam football club, a local non-league team. After continually playing brilliantly for Hallam, Jimmy gets offered a trial at Sheffield United. The evening before the trial he gets drunk, and wakes up feeling very rough. Consequently he fails to impress the Sheffield United manager. Jimmy then has to consider his future and his choices and if he has the self discipline to succeed!

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Plot Keywords:

male bonding | brewery | locker room | male frontal nudity | shower | 

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Genres:

Drama | Sport

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 March 1996 (UK)

Also Known As:

Camino a la gloria

Filming Locations:

Balti King Indian Restaurant, Broomhill, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Guild, Pint O'Bitter Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

98 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Sean Bean is known for in real life being, like his character Jimmy Muir, a massive Sheffield United Football Club fan.

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Goofs

The young Jimmy appears to have a broad Lancashire accent (notice the 'rhotic 'r' when he tells the careers officer that he wants to be a 'footballer')- not consistent with the broad Sheffield accent of Jimmy Muir and the location where the film is set. Despite Emily Lloyd's shaky attempt at an Irish accent, Jimmy's dad also appears to have a mixed accent that is hard to place. The original actor is from Birmingham, but in some scenes he almost sounds 'Geordie'.

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Soundtracks

Eyes of Blue
Paul Carrack

User Reviews

Boys own wish fulfilment from the grim North of England.

When Saturday Comes is directed by Maria Giese who also adapts the screenplay from a story by James Daly. It stars Sean Bean, Emily Lloyd, Craig Kelly, Pete Postlethwaite, John McEnery and Melanie Hill. Music is by Anne Dudley and Joe Elliott of Def Leopard fame, and cinematography is by Grant Cameron and Gerry Fisher.

Jimmy Muir (Bean) loves football, beer and women, his lads life is fun but certainly it could be better. Perhaps now that he is dating sexy wages clerk Annie Doherty (Lloyd) things are starting to settle in his life? More reason for optimism is that his football prowess has been noticed by Ken Jackson (Postlethwaite), the coach of Hallam FC, a man with friendly links to the manager of Jimmy's beloved Sheffield United. The world, it seems, is Jimmy's oyster, but problems at home, of the heart and socially, could scupper Jimmy's last chance for glory and life fulfilment.

Completely fantastical rags to riches sports movie with a keen eye for working class based social realism, When Saturday Comes is one of the better football based movies out there. But it is in a genre splinter that's hardly brimming with quality anyway. True enough to say it's treading familiar turf, and the ending holds absolutely no surprises at all. While the last quarter of film badly rushes to get to the "punch the air moment", to leave the picture with a whiff of emptiness. But it's the off field aspects of the tale that strike the better chords.

Jimmy Muir is basically a good guy, he's just caught in the vortex of a blokey lifestyle. Themes of a parental stymie and peer pressure add a bite to the screenplay, especially since the backdrop is one of a working class place that offers only the mine and the brewery for employment. Football is Jimmy's beacon of hope, it keeps him sane, but can he be all he can be? As a character study, with Bean adding grit and emotional guts, Giese's film is assuredly a winner, if only the football aspects weren't so choppy and amateurish, then the film would be better thought of in the sports movie sphere.

Led by Bean, the performances are up to a good standard, even Lloyd, who manages to get away with an iffy Irish accent because her portrayal of Annie is so spunky and grounded. The photography suitably paints it as "Grim Up North", and Dudley's score is melodic and sits nicely with the various emotive turns in the narrative. There's issues and goofs within, especially obvious to those who know about British football, like how old is Bean? Mel Sterland playing for Sheffield United? A home semi-final in the FA Cup? And there's that annoying rush in the last quarter, where everything is condensed without thought to building up expectation. But it shoots and scores most of the time, particularly when away from the football pitch. 6.5/10