The Match is a light, airy, slice of life movie that's capped off by one of those clichéd "final game" type sports movie scenes.
First, the good stuff. The Match generally has excellent cinematography, as Mick Davis takes full advantage of the endless rolling highlands that make up Scotland. There is always a feeling of freedom in shots of Inverdoune's people and buildings as the director gives his characters space to move through out the shot. Wullie floats through the countryside on his bike, children run free through the street, sunlight streams across wide lakes. There is nary a crowd to be seen outside.
Benny's bar is also an excellent set piece. I don't even drink and I would love to hang out at Benny's. The director uses the lighting to create a great deal of warmth in the well-aged wooden walls and tables.
There are also lot of quirky details in the movie that get a chuckle. The man and his son having to brake their bread van by jumping out and pushing against it. The "gets me hard" mechanic mentioning why he chose the violin. Buffalo attempting to ride a bike drunk. One detail in particular though, struck me as really above and beyond the usual attention to detail. One character in the film (I don't know his name) always wears an eye patch and in the Hawaiian party at the bar he replaces it with some combination of grapes and leaves on a strap. Absolutely hilarious and I commend Davis for going the extra mile there.
Now for the bad stuff. Wullie and friends are a lovable bunch of losers. I never actually caught everyone's name other then Wullie, Buffalo, Rosemary, and Gorgeous George but the movie never forced me to learn about them as very little time is spent developing anyone outside of Wullie, and even he is still very much a piece of cardboard as a character. Wullie's mother is probably depressed but we're never really told anything else beyond that. Rosemary is going off to college or a new job but she mainly exists as a symbol of progress for Wullie, the only reason he'd have to leave his village. Gorgeous George is a generic rich scumbag complete with the usual villain clichés of misplaced vanity, snarling voice, and evil henchman in the form of Le Bistro's soccer team.
The last act of the film is easily the worst part of the movie. Wullie's mother suddenly reveals he is the great grandson of Benny himself (eh?!) and he discovers Benny's long lost uniform upstairs in the attic. Fast Forward, time for the match. Wullie's team manages to arrive just before they would of had to forfeit, all in matching Benny's uniforms (where the heck did the other ones come from?!). The game starts. The Bistro team is obviously better prepared having witnessed them practicing through out the entire film and they jump out to an early 2-0 lead. No surprise there, we've only seen the Benny's team practice twice and they still look horrible. But UH OH, here comes an avalanche of sports movie clichés. Wullie's mother gets off her duff and arrives with words of encouragement (Unexpected-Love-From-A-Formerly-Cold-Parent). Wullie shouts really loudly and gives THE SPEECH (+100-To-Sports-Talent-Pep-Talk). The formerly indifferent former soccer pro joins Wullie's Team (Reluctant-Ringer-Finally-Decides-To-Join). Wullie's team scores two quick goals and miraculously outplays Bistro. The Bistro captain takes out former soccer pro's knee (Dirty-Move-Takes-Out-The-Star) and it's up to Wullie to take the penalty kick with 15 seconds left (A-Chance-For-Redemption). Wullie draws upon the nearly random memory of his brother falling to his death while they were kids, and manages to score.
Yay.
Ironically the underdog sports team in this movie has more to play for then nearly any sports team I've seen. If they lose, their bar gets shut down and demolished by Gorgeous George. As it's set up in the film, that would largely mean the end of any kind of life for the pup-goers and I truly believed that. These people NEED that bar. It's too bad they had to cheapen the game so much by drowning it in clichés and squeezing it into the last 10 minutes of the movie.
Overall, a feel-good type movie that had potential to be a lot more.
First, the good stuff. The Match generally has excellent cinematography, as Mick Davis takes full advantage of the endless rolling highlands that make up Scotland. There is always a feeling of freedom in shots of Inverdoune's people and buildings as the director gives his characters space to move through out the shot. Wullie floats through the countryside on his bike, children run free through the street, sunlight streams across wide lakes. There is nary a crowd to be seen outside.
Benny's bar is also an excellent set piece. I don't even drink and I would love to hang out at Benny's. The director uses the lighting to create a great deal of warmth in the well-aged wooden walls and tables.
There are also lot of quirky details in the movie that get a chuckle. The man and his son having to brake their bread van by jumping out and pushing against it. The "gets me hard" mechanic mentioning why he chose the violin. Buffalo attempting to ride a bike drunk. One detail in particular though, struck me as really above and beyond the usual attention to detail. One character in the film (I don't know his name) always wears an eye patch and in the Hawaiian party at the bar he replaces it with some combination of grapes and leaves on a strap. Absolutely hilarious and I commend Davis for going the extra mile there.
Now for the bad stuff. Wullie and friends are a lovable bunch of losers. I never actually caught everyone's name other then Wullie, Buffalo, Rosemary, and Gorgeous George but the movie never forced me to learn about them as very little time is spent developing anyone outside of Wullie, and even he is still very much a piece of cardboard as a character. Wullie's mother is probably depressed but we're never really told anything else beyond that. Rosemary is going off to college or a new job but she mainly exists as a symbol of progress for Wullie, the only reason he'd have to leave his village. Gorgeous George is a generic rich scumbag complete with the usual villain clichés of misplaced vanity, snarling voice, and evil henchman in the form of Le Bistro's soccer team.
The last act of the film is easily the worst part of the movie. Wullie's mother suddenly reveals he is the great grandson of Benny himself (eh?!) and he discovers Benny's long lost uniform upstairs in the attic. Fast Forward, time for the match. Wullie's team manages to arrive just before they would of had to forfeit, all in matching Benny's uniforms (where the heck did the other ones come from?!). The game starts. The Bistro team is obviously better prepared having witnessed them practicing through out the entire film and they jump out to an early 2-0 lead. No surprise there, we've only seen the Benny's team practice twice and they still look horrible. But UH OH, here comes an avalanche of sports movie clichés. Wullie's mother gets off her duff and arrives with words of encouragement (Unexpected-Love-From-A-Formerly-Cold-Parent). Wullie shouts really loudly and gives THE SPEECH (+100-To-Sports-Talent-Pep-Talk). The formerly indifferent former soccer pro joins Wullie's Team (Reluctant-Ringer-Finally-Decides-To-Join). Wullie's team scores two quick goals and miraculously outplays Bistro. The Bistro captain takes out former soccer pro's knee (Dirty-Move-Takes-Out-The-Star) and it's up to Wullie to take the penalty kick with 15 seconds left (A-Chance-For-Redemption). Wullie draws upon the nearly random memory of his brother falling to his death while they were kids, and manages to score.
Yay.
Ironically the underdog sports team in this movie has more to play for then nearly any sports team I've seen. If they lose, their bar gets shut down and demolished by Gorgeous George. As it's set up in the film, that would largely mean the end of any kind of life for the pup-goers and I truly believed that. These people NEED that bar. It's too bad they had to cheapen the game so much by drowning it in clichés and squeezing it into the last 10 minutes of the movie.
Overall, a feel-good type movie that had potential to be a lot more.