The Football Factory (2004)

An insight on the gritty life of a bored male, Chelsea football hooligan who lives for violence, sex, drugs & alcohol.

Director:

Nick Love

Writers:

John King (novel), Nick Love

Stars:

Danny Dyer, Frank Harper, Tamer Hassan

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Danny Dyer	...	Tommy Johnson
Frank Harper	...	Billy Bright
Tamer Hassan	...	Fred
Roland Manookian	...	Zeberdee
Neil Maskell	...	Rod
Dudley Sutton	...	Bill Farrell
Jamie Foreman	...	Cabbie
Tony Denham	...	Harris (as Anthony Denham)
Calum MacNab	...	Raff
John Junkin	...	Albert Moss
Sophie Linfield	...	Tamara
Kara Tointon	...	Tameka
Michele Hallak	...	Shian
Daniel Naylor	...	Terry
Alison Egan	...	Barbara

Storyline

The Football Factory is more than just a study of the English obsession with football violence; it's about men looking for armies to join, wars to fight and places to belong. A forgotten culture of Anglo-Saxon males fed up with being told they're not good enough and using their fists as a drug they describe as being more potent than sex and drugs put together. Shot in documentery style with the energy and vibrancy of handheld, The Football Factory is frighteningly real yet full of painful humour as the four characters' extreme thoughts and actions unfold before us.

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Plot Keywords:

drug abuse | nightmare | overhearing | police officer | violence | 

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Taglines:

What else you gonna do on a Saturday?

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Sport

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for pervasive strong language, brutal violence, drug use and some sexuality

Did You Know?

Trivia

During the encounter between Billy Bright and Millwall Fred at the junior game, Frank Harper ad-libbed most of his lines, including the "Kebab shop" racial slur. The anger shown by Tamer Hassan is genuine and Nick Love kept it in the film.

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Goofs

When Tommy and Billy leave the massage place and Billy gives Tommy the Viagra, Tommy is carrying his jacket. But in the next shot, when he is walking through town, he does not have it.

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Quotes

Raff: The geezer is a complete nutter who will never talk to us again, and everyone else thinks we're thieving little cunts.
Tommy Johnson: You are thieving little cunts.

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Connections

Spoofed in Get Your Tags Out (2006)

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Soundtracks

Leather
Written by Richard Fearless (as R. Maguire) and Tim Holmes (as T. Holmes)
Performed by Death In Vegas

User Reviews

This is reality, folks

Football violence is a horrible thing. Period. What "The football factory" shows us is a bit of reasoning behind why, seemingly normal go out and beat the crap out of each other because of a game with 22 guys and a ball. The truth is, it has nothing to do with the game. How the team actually does really doesn't matter, as long as you get to play your rivals because it's about togetherness and escaping the dreariness of everyday life. In a sick a twisted way of course, but it's the only way for these guys. The movie itself goes by at a million miles an hour and gives us characters that seem both believable and real, and a really touching story of a friendship that has lasted through the ages. The main character Tommy is a really interesting one: He knows he's on the path to destruction and through visions of his own demise, he realizes that it's all going to hell and that he (along with the other hang-arounds) are along for the ride. It's a movie that is definitely worth an hour and a half of your time and you Americans should praise yourself lucky that at least you got one thing right: You know how to behave at sporting events (hell, at NFL games they have barbecues out in the parking lot where fans of the opposing teams eat and hang out together. Just imagine that at a Tottenham-Chelsea or Roma-Lazio game!)

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 May 2004 (UK)

Also Known As:

Football Factory

Filming Locations:

Bermondsey, London, England, UK

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$1,228,003

Company Credits

Production Co:

Vertigo Films, Rockstar Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1