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August 25, 2004
"Bend it Like Beckham"
I first heard about this movie a few years ago when I was in Ireland. It took a while for to come across the pond to America for some reason - surprising considering that it is a good movie. Perhaps the American distributors thought that America doesn't know who David Beckham is? Who knows. Anyway, the movie is set in England and the plot revolves around two teenage girls with dreams of becoming football (soccer) stars.
Parminder Nagra of the TV series "ER" plays Jess, a talented soccer player from a traditional Indian family. Jules, played by Keira Knightley, discovers Jess and invites her to join a semi-pro womens soccer team but Jess's parents forbid it, wishing her to become a good wife who can prepare a traditional Indian dinner. Jess plays anyway, and the story revolves around her efforts to first keep her parents from discovering that she's on the team, and then trying to win them over.
The movie has all the elements of a coming-of-age film: romance, comedy and rebellion with a lot of soccer action thrown in. The soccer parts are good, but don't pick up this movie expecting it to be all action. It's mainly a story of a girl who is trying to live her dream without being disowned by her family, and its that clash that makes the movie work.
Most of the actors in the film perform well, including the parents of both Jess and Jules who have most of the funny lines in the movie. The one drawback is the length and flow. Towards the end it dragged in places and I found myself wishing that it would just end already.
Still, this movie is entertaining and well worth seeing. It's refreshing because it's a teenage rebellion type movie that doesn't resort to sex and drugs for laughs, but instead relies on a good plot and endearing characters.
Posted on August 25, 2004 at 10:56 AM