Cass (2008) User Reviews

Interesting biopic, not such good acting

[freshchris · 6/10 · 12 December 2008]

This film was of a real interest to me as it was produced by the same producer as Green Street, and having watched it I feel more informed, if a little frustrated.

The film centres around the character of Cass Pennant, a real life hooligan and 80's icon for hooliganism. Adopted into a white family, in an age of racism and violence, Cass finds his natural environment in the place where you would have thought he would be the biggest victim.

The script is based on Cass Pennants book 'Cass', and you can't help but feel it was copied and pasted from novel to script. The main problem is that this could have been one of the best football thug films if they had managed to get decent actors. Not that they don't do a good job, its just not great. Nonso Anozie is pretty good as the main character Cass, its interesting to see a generally soft natured character flip out now and again in a hooligan film instead of the typical hot-headed cockney. The rest of the cast however don't support him very well, and it seems as though they are forcing the drama rather than acting in a biopic.

Overall though, its an interesting insight into a real character in hooliganism, how he ended up, and kept going back, in the hooligan 'business'. If you are looking for another rise of the foot-soldier or a football factory type film, then this may not be for you.

Barnardo's Bovver Boy.

[hitchcockthelegend · 6/10 · 19 July 2009]

This is the film adaptation of how one Carol "Cass" Pennant rose from being an orphaned black boy, adopted by a white middle aged couple, to being a leader of the notorious football hooligan firm, The ICF.

You know what's funny? That one of the most well known names in the world of British Football Hooliganism is the last in the line of football violence related medium's. Had this film, and Cass' book been ten years ago, it surely would have had a greater impact. Going back to when the Brimson Brothers decided to write about a topic nobody but those involved understood in the mid 90s {source Everywhere We Go}, there has been books galore from what seems almost every footie hoolie mob going. Throw in all the film's and documentaries that have found a distributor since Gary Oldman starrer, The Firm 1988 {ID, Football Factory, Green Street and The Rise Of A Footsoldier etc}, well it's a pretty exhausted subject. So much so, that it's only really those of a certain age, and of an inclination to the topic, that can get much out of what essentially feels like a belated cash in.

In Cass' favour is that Pennant does have an interesting back story from which to launch from. His upbringing, and early struggles with racism is nicely dealt with. It put me in mind with Caroline Gall's book about hooligan outfit Zulu Warriors, where the black and white mix of races became united at football matches {see what I mean about this film trailing in others wake's}. So it be with Cass, it does have a bit of heart to go with its obvious shouty muscle. But here in lies another problem with the film, where does it want to go? What is it asking or telling us? Is Cass conflicted emotionally? Or is he merely using his troubled youth as an excuse for pounding some poor Newcastle fans head in? Pertinent questions that aren't properly answered I feel. There's a nice sequence with Cass in prison, as his racial standing is called into question by a patois spouting convict, but outside of that the film flits between being about a troubled man to an all punching thug. Something that, as I mentioned earlier, is pretty much old hat now guv.

Nonso Anozie does good work as Pennant, and Natalie Press continues to be effective in these type of roles {see Fifty Dead Men Walking}, while the underused Tamer Hassan asserts his scenes in another typecast role. I personally enjoyed the film because I can see that those involved thought a good film could be made about the matters at hand, but I'm afraid that anyone hoping for something fresh are in for one big let down. 6/10

Not just another hooligan film: works as a good drama in its own right

[intelearts · 7/10 · 16 January 2009]

Sure Cass is about hooliganism and has enough of that to fit the bill, but this is good enough to be mainstream viewing.

We found it much better than we expected: good central performances and a great arc lift this from its genre to something better.

It really looks and sounds (the language is what is was, every second word is filth, but then it was) like the British East End 80s down to the council flat doors.

I can honestly recommend this a good well-made film about life in Britain in the early 80s, it is a little light on production and directing values, it is shot too simplistically, but the story is well delivered, it is probably not for your granny (unless she's a hard nut), but deserves a wider audience than just 20 year old males with a footie hard on.

Although often periodically progressive in that way these films should sought to avoid, Cass is a passable retelling of man's struggle through an unremitting existence.

[johnnyboyz · 6/10 · 15 October 2011]

With The Football Factory still reverberating in the memory, it's difficult to get as excited about a film like Cass as one would like; a piece living in the still-recent shadow of such a film whilst calling on direct influence from the likes of 2005's Green Street as well as bits and pieces of an older crime film, albeit disconnected from hooliganism, in the form of De Palma's Carlito's Way. Indeed, Cass' director is a certain Jon Baird; a man who worked on Green Street as an associate producer - his film here formulating into a similar tale of a "white crow" and their consequent exposure to a world around them they are inherently alien to. This, before undergoing a gradual inception into it. It all smells suspiciously of said example's Elijah Wood character, an American getting lost amidst the sociological norms of a hooligan-dominated zone and having to undergo this process of initiation so as to get by. A similar framework of someone as much-an outcast to their surroundings getting involved, before realising the nature of one's ways and one's life, is told here, only over the space of about thirty years and not as engagingly.

The film follows that of true-to-life criminal-come-hooligan turned author Cass Pennant; a man whose tale here is as true as they tell us it is, and yet doesn't carry that naturalistic sense that it is someone's life actually progressing from one point to another. Told in glaringly episodic fashion, a fresh popular song peppering the soundtrack every time the era jumps forward, Nonso Anozie plays the titular lead: a man of Jamaican descent adopted at a young age by a white London couple in the 1960s, and brought up as their own in decent, friendly home-set surroundings. As a youngster, he is marginalised and ridiculed for his colour; a safe haven arriving in the form of a local public house practically run by the fans of West Ham United, whom welcome him in if it means he's a fan of the team and help him out when he runs into those racists outside of hours. This sense of unity is epitomised by the singing in unison those within carry out; football shirts and scarves in the club's colours reiterating this sense of being at one. In an attempt to instill an early sense of where we're at, we observe The Football Factory's own Tamer Hassan doing what the character of Billy Bright did in Nick Love's said 2004 film, when pub-set shenanigans give way to the intimidating of a young kid who thinks he can intermingle with those above his weight.

Cass is apprehensive of going to football to begin with; not even his father's reiteration that the stars of the day and certain World Cup winners will be there appears to convince him, but he rides it out and then discovers a taste for what lurks beneath the following of a football team. Thus that of what we see of Cass' life is launched, his descent through hooliganism and organised violence; a world in which the attraction of a footballing 'firm' facing off against another is more appealing than the match itself. West Ham's biggest rivals in this regard are Leeds United, not out of geography nor the fact they are both of an immensely skilled nature alá the Real Madrid-Barcelona ties, but because these two fight the hardest.

What transpires are several 'bits' and pieces of Pennant's life: his first feel of football violence; his going to prison; his meeting of a girl; his getting wind of a business venture, none of it much more than slightly interesting and all of it propped up with a lacklustre script seeing dialogue made up of insults and lots of four letter words predominantly coming from that of the males therein with meek moral out-linings accompanying spots of common sense exuded by the females. Director Baird strikes us as someone doing their utmost to make a good film, maturely; his veering off down a route to encompass a sub-plot inspired by Carlito's Way, as well as the fact Cass is later released from prison to the same sound of pomp and circumstance that saw Alex De Large enter prison in Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange, suggests the man has seen his fair share of films; enjoyed them and desperately wanted to make his own whilst pay homage, but there is no cumulative whole around which everything gels. Its politics may be in the right place but the film's overall feel as you both watch it and absorb it is that of unsmooth; as if it's fumbling around in the dark for the right buttons, sometimes finding them, but doing its utmost overall to do the right thing.

Good biopic

[elliotjeory · 7/10 · 25 July 2019]

Excellent biopic and and great acting. The usual familiar British faces with your typical violence and swearing. Cass is played well and is a good portrayal of 1980s Britain. If you like football hooligan films you will like this.

Great in its own right

[ashleyswilliamson · 7/10 · 17 April 2015]

As a true story it's never going to feel like a Hollywood blockbuster, but compared to something like The Krays I think it stacks up superbly. This film feels real and as a side point the story should be respected, racism was rife in football at that time so the 'achievement' of Cass is even more remarkable.

I guess I'm a bit biased as I've met the man, met his wife and met his son (who had an extra role in Green Street).

Summary is this; a good film on a really interesting life and even though the narrative is grim, enough in the film to entertain, definitely recommend.

great lead performance by Anozie

[bigsmokedoggbaby · 7/10 · 8 December 2008]

i 100% disagree withe davideo-2 about this feature. the only thing that lets this film down is the over use of a black screen fade out between scenes and the apparent low budget. The use of the news reel footage of what was happening at the time adds nothing but realism to the situations that were happening at the time. Any attempt to try and reenact scenes such as the heisel disaster would have looked cheap and insulted the memory of those who lost lives and loved ones on that tragic day. Yes the editing could have been better but for what essentially is a low budget film by a fairly inexperienced director it is an entertaining viewpoint into the life of one of Britain's most famous football casuals. The acting was brilliant all round and most of the fight scenes well choreographed even if they did lack the gore of rise of the foot soldier (a brilliant film about the life of Carlton leech) or the high budget effects of greenstreet (a Hollywood let down in the football violence genre) yes this is no ID or The Firm but it is a good honest insight into what went on and IS based on real events unlike the aforementioned 2 films

One Of The Better Films For It's Genre

[djkbee · 8/10 · 26 June 2013]

There's many British gangster movies / football hooligan movies. Cass i certainly a candidate for being one of the better ones out there. I never go into story lines etc and try to keep my reviews brief and to the point here on IMDb. Basically if your a fan of the better UK movies like Football Factory, Green Street, Rise Of The FootSoldier, Clubbed etc then there's no way you will not enjoy this. Being based on a true story makes it even more engrossing for me and it's one i would recommend hence me giving it 8 stars.

One downside is that it gives off a bit of a budget look... almost older then it is look with the visuals but its a solid British flick. Deffo check it out.

Cass a watchable movie we've seen somewhere before

[bettywhait06 · 6/10 · 13 December 2010]

The trouble with movies like Cass is that they are not bad films by any means, nor do they fail to entertain or live in the memory. It's just the memory already seems overloaded with literally dozens of these flashy, flashback, 80s set designer violence dramas that glorify the exploits of the disaffected youth through their frustrations inside and outside football stadiums. Whilst the obvious difference with this film is that the main character must overcome not only tribal football clashes but the added dimension of racism as well, you can see why the book originally written by the main protagonist himself purported to offer such a rich vein of narrative to adapt into a film. But these kind of movies are now so commonplace, they struggle to offer something new that we haven't already seen many times over. And for that reason the slightest slip up can be catastrophic, and any loose direction or production can see a movie like this lurch from the sublime to the ridiculous quicker than it takes to whack someone with a knuckleduster. Nonso Alonsie plays the lead role with passion and controlled aggression, but somehow fails to quite deliver the same menace as the real life 'hero' himself. Witness (Cass) Pennant in his own words in the special features available on the DVD and he is much more able to display a propensity for violence just bubbling neatly under the surface. But the movie is well worth watching, and doesn't outstay its welcome. It's difficult to recall when the conveyor belt was switched on with this genre, it possibly goes back to the 70s with Alan Clarke's 'Scum' but as a viewer one is just waiting for Danny Dyer to pop up at any moment. Instead, we have Tamer Hassan on hand, who is thankfully a reassuring presence, albeit a familiar one. The movie perhaps also deliberately decides to pull back from the glorification of graphic violence, and is all the better for it.

Over Ambitious, Under Resourced Biopic

[gary-444 · 4/10 · 4 August 2008]

As a contemporary of Pennant, and veteran of the 1970's and 1980's terrace culture,I was keen for this film to succeed. Sadly, with some good intentions, it fails, and joins the other flawed attempts to recreate the halcyon days of the hooligan. The authenticity of the background to the film is often well observed. But Director Jon Baird fails to have the expertise, or I suspect the budget, to faithfully realise the period..

Pennant's biography is well written, and a good read. It also covers over 40 years. A 108 minute screen running time, was always likely to be crippled by compromise, vignette and crude symbolism, and so it turns out. His story does have dramatic potential and sociological significance but neither Baird nor Pennant have the discipline or know- how to deliver it.

For lovers of football violence, there is not a lot of it. Three 20 a side rucks with Wolves, Leeds and Newcastle are the set pieces. For an 18 Certificate the grizzly reality of these confrontations is pretty sanitised giving succour to the dreamy, romantic retrospection that it was just like minded boys fighting, and finding a sense of family in hooligan gangs.

The key scene when one of Pennants lieutenants gets jumped by three Arsenal thugs and is slashed to ribbons needing 1000 stitches is strangely understated .Its setting is grimly authentic, three against one, the assailants armed, no chance of defence or escape for the victim. Yet we see only the healed welts on the victims face some time later, not the grim reality of a cowardly, bloody attack.

As a child the casual racism and bullying which "Carol" suffers, alongside a complete lack of personal identity, is well observed. Bravely, time is also found for racism he suffers at the hands of a black Rasta in jail. When his mother dies unexpectedly, his remorse at not having told her how much he loved her is genuinely poignant. Sadly though, these promising scenes are sketched in the same shorthand as the violent ones , which is very frustrating.

The "rucks" themselves are fleshed out with some ageing faces from the past, Bill Gardener,Mark Chester from Stoke, and Gilly from Wolves amongst them. It does not help the realism of the scenes to have time worn middle aged men in amongst what was a pretty exclusively young crowd at the time. This sop to some old boys to enable them to relive their youth is pretty risible. Equally Pennant himself appears uncredited as a bouncer alongside Frank Bruno, also uncredited.West Ham's North Bank and Chicken Run are not mentioned once, the South Bank gets two unreferenced name checks.

One of the best moments in the book is when Pennant steps in to save a random black kid from getting a beating from some racist skinheads – only to discover that he has saved Frank Bruno! Pennants close subsequent links with the boxing fraternity are only dealt with in short hand in the film and his chance meeting with a similarly incarcerated Ambrose Mendy left out all together, as is, inexplicably, his "saving" of Bruno.

Virtual unknown Nonso Anozeo, successfully carries off the role of the adult Pennant.Tamer Hassan plays a convincing cameo as boxer Ray.. Otherwise the ensemble provides background only to the main events. However the fundamental rush of football hooliganism, the massed clashes of sometimes several thousand protagonists is missing. As others have found ,it is very difficult to recreate with so many of the old grounds gone. What grounds and stands do remain are out of bounds to "hoolie" film makers from clubs eager to protect their sanitised reputation.

The hackneyed use of Thatcherite film clips as she pronounces on a subject she knows nothing about is cheap and adds nothing. Amusingly, shots of the infamous Millwall riot at Luton are shown twice, but Millwall, the ICF's great rivals are not mentioned once.

As a stand alone bio pic this is poor. Pennant is no Mandela. If you were there, there is enough to keep your interest but not enough to win your praise. In aiming to be more than a "hoolie film", this bio pic tries to achieve much, but ultimately falls victim to its own over ambition and vanity.

Proves that you don't have to be white..to be 'British'..

[Angelus2 · 8/10 · 5 July 2009]

An elderly white couple, adopt a child from Jamaica and raise him up during the 70's...I chronicles his life from being racially attacked... to actually attacking people for his beloved football team.

The character of Cass is a man who blindingly loves his country and must face prosecution from others and constantly told he does not belong...I loved his rise, and the respect he accumulates from people.

I found the prison part to be very fascinating as another Jamiacan British cell mate tells him about why he should care for his roots, and Cass's place in the world.

The fight scenes were brilliantly shot and show Great Britain's hard men...We are not all like Hugh Grant..LOL..

A good solid film with a great cast of actors..

Bootboys!

[zacharymorg · 7/10 · 8 June 2021]

Dialogue in this film alone rates 7 stars ! Cass pennant is a well respected face and even tho the underfunded budget shows...This film does have some poignant moments and very authentic clothing and slang of the era.

Disappointing latest entry into the 'football hooligan' movie genre

[wellthatswhatithinkanyway · 4/10 · 9 August 2008]

STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning

A film highlighting the true story of Cass Pennant (Nonso Anozie) a baby born to a Jamaican mother who was raised by a white working class couple who's doorstep he landed on. The film charts his youth getting his first taste of football violence in it's heyday of the early 70s, through to a decade later when he was leading London's top firm The ICF (Inter City Firm) into battle, which ended up getting him a lengthy spell in jail. He came out and tried to turn his life around, getting into the nightclub doorman business, but his past caught up with him and after an attempt on his life, he turned his back on his old life for good, and is now respected as a renowned author.

After the true life story of Carlton Leach was documented in the woeful misfire Rise of the Foot Soldier, Cass arrives trying to do the same thing with (black) ICF leader Pennant. "The Football Factory meets This is England" a praise caption (for want of better phrasing) proclaimed when I first saw the poster for this. Okay, already I was thinking 80s Britain, Thatcher, hooliganism, a bit grim. I wasn't disappointed in this respect, but in others Cass did disappoint me quite badly.

For a film that's ended up on the big screen, the film looks remarkably cheap, like it's more suited as a TV film than here. Up until the end, for some reason director Jon S Baird has shot his film in a grainy, blurry style that you can't help but notice. Maybe this was to help give off a feel of how bleak and grim life in England during the 70s and 80s was, but it didn't come off as too subtle with me. The use of stock footage from old news reels showing the football violence also didn't help in this respect. But aside from this, the film goes to great pains to dramatize Cass's life story veering away from any exciting football action, but rather than involve us in the end the film has come off more as dull and boring unfortunately.

The film benefits from an undeniably fine lead performance from Anozie as the titular character, an articulate thug with a lot of pent up anger in him but who also has an intelligent side that comes to be his guiding light. He does try and justify his actions at points by blaming them on Thatcher, as when talking about his clashes with police at games, saying 'they were her army versus ours' without realizing no matter heavy handed they might have been, they were trying to stop violence rather than cause it. Nathalie Press as the girl who becomes his wife tries hard but her voice is rather annoying and grating and this put me off a bit. Leo Gregory, who was also in Green Street, is good in a supporting role as Cass's mate. Tamer Hassan does his usual glaring, quietly menacing hardman act and Dennis Pennis himself Paul Kaye also does well as the man behind Cass's shooting. Performances wise, there's really nothing wrong with the film, it's in other areas it lets itself down.

The distributors picked a stupid time to release it, as it really didn't stand a chance at this time of year, up against bigger films like The Dark Knight, the new X-Files film and The Love Guru. I remember seeing a little feature on it on the news, which now makes me think it was just desperate for any publicity it could get. It had about one showing time when I went to see it, but the theatre was packed and it seems to have had a stay of execution for this week too, so maybe it'll do better than it seemed.

It's not awful by any means, with some strong performances and an interesting story, that sadly came off as dull rather than how it should have. **

Cass the Badass

[view_and_review · 7/10 · 21 February 2022]

My first introduction to "football" hooliganism was "Green Street Hooligans." I didn't really connect with Elijah Wood in that film. "Cass" is a much better tale that gets deeper into the hooliganism of soccer... I mean football.

Cass, played by Nonso Anozie, was born with the name Carol, but he eschewed it for something less girly (and something less likely to get him picked on). He was Black and adopted by a white woman named Doll (Linda Bassett). He grew up facing the rigors of racism and bigotry as many Black folks do in the west. He found a home and a second family with the football hooligans of West Ham. He rose through the ranks and founded a gang called ICF (Inner City Firm).

The movie is a biopic showing his journey and development. As an American this was still new and foreign to me. We are very tribal about our teams, but we reserve gang violence for neighborhood blocks.

Average Brit Hooligan Flick

[Theo Robertson · 6/10 · 18 July 2009]

This is the bio-pic of Cass Pennant who rose through the ranks of the much feared West Ham Inter-City Firm of football casuals . What makes it slightly different from other films in the sub genre is that the protagonist is black when being being black was unfashionable to say the least . The audience are left with the feeling that screenwriter /director Jon S Baird is trying to tell a story of social relevance involving a black child being adopted by a white couple but decided to just chronicle the activities of the ICF since this is the selling point of the movie

For a film that involves a football tribe it's rather average with the usual shouts of " FAHK " and " KANT " in mockney accents which probably sums up how self limiting the hooligan sub genre is . There's nothing you've got here that hasn't been done before and has probably been done better in THE FOOTBALL FACTORY . Perhaps the worst failing is the lead performance by Nonso Anozie as the eponymous anti hero . It's not a bad performance at all but Anozie comes across as being far too likable to play someone who breaks heads for a hobby

Finally, a real man

[mdewey · 8/10 · 15 March 2010]

Way more than just a football thuggery story, as our protagonist has to weave his way from being an orphaned Black kid (Nonso Anozie) raised by White foster parents in a predominantly White London east end neighborhood to being a self-respected man with a job, family and peace of mind. Along this most circuitous route, he encounters racism by both Whites and Blacks: by Whites because of his color and by Blacks because of his cockneyed "White" sounding speech patterns and by his reluctance to "go Black" to his so-called African/Jamaican roots. He is quite content to merely be himself and is fully comfortable with his Caucasian foster parents who brought him up with love and attention. He cares far more about his family and his mates than for some artificial and ephemeral political/racial cause. The jail cell scene with the back and forth dialogue between Cass and his "Rasta-ish" cell-mate bears this point out.

But his issues with the aforementioned football thuggery with its concomitant need for constant revenge through violence is keeping him from the realization of his true inner self, the real man he wants to be. The thrust of this film deals with how, over long periods of time, he must manage to extricate those inner demons in order to achieve any sort of lasting peace. And a superlative job indeed is done to portray this metamorphosis by Jon Baird & co., especially the lead role by Nonso. No fancy existential/psychological drama in this hard-hitting, straight-forward piece: just a man in search of himself with the hopes of finding some semblance of a peaceful, fulfilling existence.

self indulgent boring third rate vanity project

[nwestwood1 · 1/10 · 28 August 2008]

Recently I couldn't get into any performance of The Dark Knight, so myself and my mate looked for an alternative. I should gone home and watched Eastenders this boring pretentious mockney nonsense, barely kept me awake . The main character (the first black hooligan) was about is menacing as the Hofmeister Bear. Unlike the cruely underrated Rise Of The Footsoldier which was slated to pieces. This film was a winded pretentious biopic of somebody nobody cares about. The acting was dreadful, especially the person who plays Cass's wife,hearing her winy nicotine voice was the equalvent of hearing a blackboard being scratched!! Why was this given a 18 certificate ?

Powerful story of a rise against racism and oppression

[joker_greenhouse · 8/10 · 10 December 2008]

I wouldn't usually bother leaving a comment, but I just finished watching Cass and was surprised to see people had slated the film here at IMDb.. perhaps leaving other folk interested in unique individuals worth reading about to overlook such a powerful story.

If you are looking for consistent violence in a movie, it's not the movie your looking for. This film, and the underline story, is one of someones rise from ultimately unfair odd's.. and onto the best at what was offered. This also offers a valuable insight into an otherwise mindless brute, and to see the notions for his behaviour..

Bottom line: Watch the movie if you detest racism.. don't bother if your going to overlook all that and have a whine at the end because you didn't see enough blood.

Very familiar !! feel like I've seen it all before

[mancunianfatman · 4/10 · 1 April 2010]

I enjoyed this film just enough to watch the whole 90 minutes, but it felt like i had already seen a dozen movies like this - football factory, green street, rise of the footsoldier, the firm (2009 version). it was a film that left me feeling unsatisfied for some reason, i cannot explain.

The story is simple - A black baby raised by a white couple, who grows up in London. He grows up in very racist times and as he gets older he earns his respect by fighting rival fans at football games(he is a West Ham fan). This is the third football film in the last 3 years that revolves around West Ham united, (Green Street and Rise of the foot soldier) which is pretty tiring, as it makes you wish that the main character supported another dam team for once! Now one thing i will give this film credit for is the acting. you get a pretty good performance from Nonso Anozie and Leo Gregory, who you will notice from green street. Tamer Hassan also has a bit of screen time who you will recognise from the football factory and he does his tough man act pretty well.

And thats basically it...... a football hooligan, no other story apart from the obvious confrontations that brings his way. He meets a women settles down and end of story. I'll admit that i felt cheated by this film, i thought there would be a better story....but never mind.

If you are a huge fan of these hooligan films then by all means you will love it, but if like me, you are getting bored of these type of films then stay away

By Scott Dewhurst

Much more than a 'hooligan' film.

[waynelreid · 10/10 · 9 September 2008]

Depth of story. Much more than a hooligan film. Many funny and ironic moments also. This will be enjoyed by football lads as well as general cinema goers. Looks like it could be a cult movie. I will definitely be buying the DVD. Good character development throughout the film. Most of the acting very convincing. Also attention to detail in the 60's and 70's scenes looked very authentic. Some hard scenes but overall good fun. Cameo appearances from some interesting sportsmen! Also touches on race issues of past decades. I never realised film was over 90 minutes until I left the cinema. All in all very enjoyable and I would recommend it!

Failed. Unoriginal, ambitious.

[matt_in_da_net · 2/10 · 15 December 2009]

I watched this film unwillingly with some friends thinking it was some violent-glorification of ugly, football hooligans Looking back, I would have preferred this much more than what the film actually was - a lame 2 hour drama which had to be endured rather than enjoyed.

I felt so disengaged throughout the whole movie - possibly because of how amateur and unoriginal the film looked and felt. Its ambitious attempts to be dramatic and truthful failed miserably.

The script does have a strong moral center about racism, being an outcast, belonging and family. Unfortunately these story elements are lost in a badly executed production.

Football violence at its best

[eddie-32826 · 8/10 · 14 July 2019]

I've seen a few in the football violence type films, so gave this one a go. I was not dissapointed. Bottom line is, if you like the football violence etc, and with something of a true story, then you'll like this one. Also, this is another fantastic film about the ICF, the other being Rise of the Foot Soldier. Both Cass and Carlton Leach are well known in the ICF, so it was good to see his background in this film.

well worth a watch

[devinejames1967 · 8/10 · 11 January 2009]

I thought after reading some of the bad comments on this film that I should leave a comment. The film seems to capture 80's England and I thought it gripping and flowed at a good pace to keep my interest to the very end - (my wife says I nearly always fall asleep before the end of a film). I watched this DVD with my 18yr old daughter who also enjoyed it as good entertainment and a brief historic view to what football hooligans were like, she had no idea this happened back then. I also agree the use of news footage from the time only adds to how genuine this film feels. Nice to see ex West Ham and Celtic striker getting a very small part in the pub in Newcastle.

A very well told hooligan story, with a great storyline

[mspostlethwaite89 · 9/10 · 2 October 2013]

Having seen pretty much every football hooligan based film available, I was pleasantly surprised by this film. Perhaps the fact that the film is based on a true story explains why the storyline seems so fresh and original. Clearly there is the classic basis of a plot as for most films of this nature - new guy in the firm; earns respect; works the way to the top; gets a family; suffers a traumatic event (or 2) and then seeks revenge. I think the reason that this film didn't bore me with the storyline is because you got a lot of background information on the main character Carol (a.k.a. "Cass"), which is different to a lot of other films of this sub-genre.

The film has a good balance of drama, comedy and violence. The drama is focused mainly on the main character and his relationships with the people closest to him. The comedy is very 'laddish', usually focused around sex and violence (as you would expect of a film of this type!), and is very dry.

As for the violence, I was very impressed about the varying ways it was shot. In the big fights in between the firms the camera puts the viewer right in the middle of the action with shots coming from the centre of the firms as they run towards each other. This is not to say you don't see any individual one-on-one scraps, but it is refreshingly varied.

To conclude this is a very good film that drew me in quite quickly. The main character is very well played by Nonso Anozie and it is easy to understand how he became to be how he was. I would recommend this film to anyone who is bored of the other 'hooligan' films and wants to see the hooligan life from a slightly different angle. The only thing to note about this film is that there is very little focus on the actual football side of things, so don't expect to see the firms at any matches! All in all this is a great film and I would give it a 9/10.

spare a moment (or 2) to consider what this film's really about before forming a final opinion

[tonynature-1 · 8/10 · 26 January 2009]

judging by the comments left by men wanting to see an accurately depicted film on footie thuggery this is not a decent hooligan flick.

I am not sure what the attraction is behind hooliganism, I mean don't get me wrong i profess to be no angel.

I am a 34yr old working class south londoner who has had (in my day of course) many a stupidly drunken night and day which have occasionally led to tear ups resulting in victory and defeat, but packs of tooled up geezer's week after week year after year to then turn around and claim to be some national violence hierarchy! nah mate i ain't 'avin it.

what was/is truly remarkable about this is 1 solitary black mans possibly god given path to stay and keep his head way above the water against any off the odds and become not only a player but ranked elitely among the top dogs if not the top.

I for most of my childhood grew not too far from Cass's home town and were subject to similar experience's but had the sanctity of a home to which I culturally belonged. coincidentally I have also known Nonso in my past and I am truly proud at his portrayal of the man. as for Elaine (Cass's wife) not knowing a damned thing about the man's better half I felt that Natalie Press was not wooden or poor but actually quite sweet and find that viewers and critics alike expect Hollywood stellar performances far too often from actors portraying sweet n simple everyday fault filled folk.

sadly (or maybe not so sadly) the budget was low so the film was kept gritty and simple as was working class Britain back then but the sentiment was high.

a simple but great "1 man against the world and winning" story.