User Reviews

I thought this was going to be a terrible film like most football (soccer) movies, but I have to admit this one was entertaining at least, of course this is not "Escape to Victory (1981)" but it is much better than most movies about this sport. I think "When Saturday Comes" deserves 6.5 stars.

The performances were good for what the movie needed, standing out Emily Lloyd with a good work playing Annie Doherty the girlfriend of the lead character (Sean Bean). Sean Bean surprise me because at least one can tell that he has played some "futbol" when he was a kid, not like many others as Michael Caine who is a good actor but he had never kicked a ball in his life before filming "Escape to Victory (1981)". In my country almost always put actors who are terrible playing football in roles of "futbol" players at the movies.

(spoiler in this paragraph) What I didn't like about the movie was the final game where Jimmy Muir (Sean Bean)scores 3 goals in his debut game, come on he is not Pele, Maradona, Messi or George Best to do that, It would have been more realistic if he had given one goal assistance and score two goals(I give you that if you want). At least the plays in the final game were OK and look realistic.

Jimmy Muir is a very good amateur football player who works in a factory and he will have the great chance of his life to become a professional player when one day he receives an invitation for a proof at Sheffield United..........

If you are a fan of football(soccer)like me you will like this movie otherwise stay away from it..

It may be considered the beautiful game, but films about football have a nasty habit of ending up not-very-good. It just seems a fiendishly difficult sport to transfer to a cinematic canvas in a dramatic and involving way. When Saturday Comes is not the film to put right this strange, unwritten law of the cinema. It's not that it's a hopelessly terrible turd of a movie – far from it – but it's just a very average, pedestrian sports drama which doubles up as yet another social commentary on the grimness of northern life. Will there ever be a film about people who thrive, and enjoy life, north of the Watford Gap? Who knows?

Typical working-class, beer-swilling, woman-chasing factory worker Jimmy Muir (Sean Bean) has been stuck in dead end jobs since leaving school. The thing is, he could have had a much different life if his talents had been channelled correctly by the people around him as he was growing up. You see, Jimmy is a pretty damn fine footballer… but his archetypal lad's lifestyle, plus constant negativity from his abusive father Joe (John McEnery), mean that he never really pursued his talent with the required dedication. Jimmy's future begins to look a little brighter when he falls for feisty wages clerk Annie Doherty (Emily Lloyd), and is scouted by celebrated non-leaguers Hallam FC, coached by Ken Jackson (Pete Postlethwaite). Gradually, Jimmy works his way up to playing for professional side Sheffield United. Although that side's captain (played, curiously, by ex-Sheffield Wednesday star Mel Sterland) despises Jimmy, the hopeful newcomer gets his chance to enter Sheff Utd folklore when he comes on as a substitute in a cup semi final match against Manchester United. Will he seize his moment in the spotlight, or fold under the pressure when the stakes are highest?

When Saturday Comes is better in its dramatic scenes than its sporty ones. The football sequences capture neither the on-field drama nor off- field camaraderie one would hope for. The climax is especially disappointing – a strangely rushed and muddled sequence which trips over itself in its haste to get to Jimmy's all-too predictable 'punch-the- air-in-delight' moment after all those years of rejection and hardship. Erroneous little details don't help much either, such as the fact the FA Cup semi final depicted here is played at Brammall Lane, home of Sheffield United, when in actual fact FA Cup semis are always contested at a neutral venue. The performances are OK, though. 36 year old Bean is too old for his role but plays it enthusiastically enough. As a real- life Sheff Utd fan, this is something of a wish fulfilment film for him, or perhaps, some might say, a vanity project. He certainly seems more at home in this sort of kitchen sink stuff than playing Bond villains or traipsing across Middle Earth with a bunch of hobbits. Lloyd's spirited girlfriend character, and Postlethwaite as the supportive coach, are also strongly realised characters who contribute to the film's positives. As far as films set in Yorkshire go, When Saturday Comes is not really one of the best. It hardly taxes the patience, and is certainly not a complete disaster, but it never rises far above the level of a run-of-the-mill time filler.

"When saturday comes" is a movie i wont forget easily. Its about courage and choices you take that affect your life. Its incredibly touching in some moments and makes you feel compassion for Jimmy Muir. He is a guy who wanted to play football,but was refused the chance as a teenager and instead has to go the grey worker road to support himself. Then suddenly the chance he wanted 10 years ago is right there ahead of him. But he feels what most of us felt when we first got our career breaks-he's afraid and unsecure. So he drowns himself in drinking and other excesses to try and make the fear go away. But it doesnt work that way. Instead he loses the chance he so much wanted and is back on the grey dirty road again.

The football field here has a symbolic meaning. Its the way out of his grey everyday,a bright road that leads away from it to a better life. Thats what makes this movie so poignant. For Jimmy Muir there is no other way to have a happy life. After losing both his brother and his girl,he is desperate and thinks life has no meaning anymore. But then he remembers what his brother said that symbolises the true spirit. That you have to give your best in order to succeed in life and never give in for your fear.

Sean Bean was great in this film. The recent years i have been admiring him more and more and this film is a good reason to do it. Pete Postlethwaite and Emily Loyd make a great supporting cast. This is a movie to remember.8 out of 10.

Well I saw this movie yesterday for the first time and I didn't expect a masterpiece. I wanted to be entertained, nothing more. After sixty minutes I stopped it, because I couldn't stand that bad story. The characters are clichés: The violent and gambling father, the vicious chief in the brewery and poor Jimmy who fights against that circumstances and his own failures. At one point he loses everything: The Woman he loves, his brother and the chance to get part of Sheffield United. But then he turns for 180 degrees, fights hard for his second chance and in the most important game he got in after 45 min beats Manchester United nearly alone. I spend all my admiration for Sean Bean, Emily Lloyd and Pete Postlethwaite. They fight with their acting against this poor script, but they lose against it. It's a pity, because this could have been a really good movie, but therefor you need a more inspiring directing and a better script. You can see in "Billy Elliot" how you can tell a good story with this topic. So "When Saturday Comes" is just a mediocre try to make a good movie.

Where do I start? I finally found a stream on line to watch this,wish I hadn't tbh, You first see Jimmy aged 16 leaving school, no prospects, no hope blah blah, Jimmy dreams of football stardom and his dopey brother heads for the pits, so far so dull, His father has issues and his mum and sister are down trodden. Jump forward a few years and Jimmy has turned into a man in his thirties supposedly in his twenties, and his football dreams have nearly passed him by. Up steps Pete Postlethwaite out of no where and gets him a trial at Sheff Yoo just like that, and guess what he gets a second trial, but he blows it, having spent the night before with a stripper(dont ask). He also loses his brother in a mining accident But he gets a second chance (as you do) and guess what, he is offered a contract! Sheff Yoo are playing Man Utd in a cup semi and guess what, jimmy is named sub. Something so huge in Jimmy's and his families lives that non could be even bothered going to the big match, mates and dad watching it in the pub,mum and sis on Tv,what? Jimmy comes on at half time, starts badly, sees his dead brother in the stand, lays on a goal and then scores himself to level the score, then last minute Sheff yoo get a penalty (jimmy fouled and injured) and who does the captain let take the pen? You guessed it,Jimmy. The tension is bearable as Jimmy scores to give Sheff yoo the win, cue scenes of joy in the pub and at Jimmy's house, they are so happy they couldn't even be bothered to be there. It's understandable why S Bean signed up for this as he is a Sheff yoo fan, but Emily Lloyd? Was she that desperate? It's a shocker, and can see why it's never shown on TV.

Uninspiring, total fairytale about a young Sheffield lad who never has the courage to pursue his dream of playing for local division one side United. That is until he meets a girl who really believes in him, and then everything changes.

"When Saturday Comes" is really a family drama about self-belief and self-destructive behaviour. It is not, however, a very good one. Too many clichés and a pointed script can't manage to involve the audience. None of the cast, including Sean Bean, Emily Lloyd and Pete Postlethwaite, are able to make you care. The final game is well staged and appears authentic.

Monday, January 12, 1998 - Video