Before watching the Damned United, I did not know anything about Brian Clough and his story, so I went to the cinema without any preconceived idea. Now, I have mixed feeling about this film. Firstly, the cast is excellent. Michael Sheen has done a very good performance. He is Clough; we can observe a real man, with mannerism and charisma. I could see a character, with a huge personality, not only a character from a movie, without a soul, if I can say it like that. When we watched the film, we thought we were in the Britpop era, in Clough's era, and we just believe Sheen became Clough. Clough is arrogant, but throughout the whole film, I was shared between loving him or hating him. He is both so stupid and so smart. He is right, but his way to do things is wrong. It is a complex and sensitive character. Don Revie and Peter Taylor are both two important characters, who are very well performed, Peter Taylor, the nice but too shy friend, and Don Revie, the boss, Clough's enemy. These three characters are very interesting. I think they are the best points of the film, because I did not really like the support cast. Have you seen the soccer players? They are not convincing! They are too fat, too old and... everything except footballers! Happily enough, Sheen is present, and we do not remember these men at the end! Actually, h is so important in the film, we only remember him. However, I think the story which is shared between before and during the forty four days of Clough's management, is good and interesting. I like the idea of a flash-back to understand Clough's character. There is a real work to build up the movie, following a plan, to make the public understand Clough's personality. It is really nice and well done. But, even if the film has these good points, the subject is not my cup of tea. I am not fond of football, so it was a bit difficult to love. It is not only a football movie, but it is the main subject. To finish with, I can say "Go see it", if you want to watch and enjoy a nice movie, without gangsters but with good actors!
Review of The Damned United
