With the world cup only a few weeks away, a film with a title such as this seems like the perfect entertainment for football lovers. However the movie has succeeded to please a much wider audience, by keeping the football action to a minimum.
In this charming and stimulating film, we meet an 18-year old Indian girl named Jess (Parminder Nagra) who can curl a ball as well as David Beckham- hence the film's title. However her dreams of becoming a successful professional footballer are delayed by her strict parents, who insist she obeys family traditions.
In spite of this, she is still encouraged by a member of a local ladies team named Joules (Keira Knightly) to attend their training sessions. As a result she begins a new life style- at the possible expense of angering her family.
The entertainment of the film comes from is a fairly involving plot with a few twists and a number of jokes.
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Bend It Like Beckham
Bridget Jones's Diary (film)Admittedly, quite a lot of the jokes fail, yet there are still a number of amusing moments, and the film's dramatic and emotive scenes are convincing.
Like most recent British films, the movie contains a number of well- known pop songs; unfortunately they don't always blend in precisely with the action. Another and probably the most obvious problem, is the film's inconsistent pacing; notably the ending.
Thanks to the good all round performances of the cast the movie still remains enjoyable. Nagra and Knightly both give fine, believable performances, and manage to bring a good mix of sentiment and energy to their characters.
"Bend it like Beckham" is a light, unambitious film which doesn't include many surprises; it can be sensed early on in the film that issues will be resolved and order will be re-established. In...