Customer Reviews

Green Street Hooligans (Hooligans: Defiende a los tuyos) [ NON-USA FORMAT, NTSC, Reg.4 Import - Latin America ]

5 star:		(52)
4 star:		(33)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

"Green Street Hooligans" sets a family drama and coming-of-age tale in the world of football (soccer) hooliganism. Matt Buckner (Elijah Wood) was a promising journalism student before he was expelled from Harvard University over his roommate's cocaine stash. Suddenly aimless, Matt wanders to London to visit his sister Shannon (Claire Forlani) and her British husband Steve (Marc Warren). When Matt tags along to a soccer game with Steve's brother Pete (Charlie Hunnam), he finds that there is a lot more to soccer culture than the game on the field. Pete is a member of a football firm or gang called the Green Street Elite (GSE). Firms are organizations of fanatic fans who battle other firms for reputation and dominance -by beating the crap out of each other. Matt is attracted to the high energy, danger, and physicality of the GSE and embraces the lifestyle. But eventually word gets around that he might be a journalist - and hooligans hate coppers and journalists.

I couldn't say how accurately "Green Street Hooligans" represents the dynamics of football firms or the relationships of their members. But the film does provide a window into a subculture that is common in the UK and South America, where soccer reigns supreme, but which Americans may never have heard of. Contrary to the American cocept of gangsters, soccer hooligans are neither Mafioso nor errant youth. They are grown, middle-class men who function perfectly well in normal jobs. But outside of work and domestic obligations, they are completely lawless. They happily adopt a brutality that could leave them dead or maimed in the blink of an eye. "Green Street Hooligans" requires some suspension of disbelief to accept more mundane behavior. Would Steve really send his naïve Yank brother-in-law to a soccer game with his estranged hooligan brother? No. That kind of illogic is common in this film. But the culture of hooliganism, the allure of their violence, is at the same time stupid and fascinating.

The DVD (Warner 2006): "The Making of Hooligans" (6 min) is not about making the movie. It is a series of interviews with actors Elijah Wood, Claire Forlani, Charlie Hunnam, director Lexi Alexander and producer Deborah Del Prete which discuss the characters and the phenomenon of football firms. There is a music video for the song "One Blood" by Terence Jay, which sounds uncannily like the Dire Straits' song "Brother in Arms". Terence Jay also acts in the movie. He plays Matt's elite WASP Harvard roommate, the cokehead. Subtitles for the film are available in English, French, and Spanish.

Of everything written about this small film starring Elijah Wood and Charlie Hunnam, the most interesting is to see the lukewarm reactions from the UK side, which found the film is too violent, and dismissed it as implausible. And it must be admitted that they are complaining with some good reasons.

For the film is really violent, and Elijah Wood may be the least plausible choice for making a film about the hooligans, almost fanatic supporters of football team in England. Elijah Wood plays Matt, a Harvard college undergraduate student wrongly expelled because of his irresponsible roommate. Matt flies to the home of his married sister (Clair Forlani), and there meets his brother-in-law Pete (Charlie Hannam), devoted leader of the Green Street Elite, bunch of the hooligans supporting West Ham United.

The set-up part is contrived, but you should wait a while. Soon the film's story leads us to its gist, about how Matt (estranged from his father now in Kabul) finds his new existence in this underworld of the `Firm' and its hooliganism. The film does not fail to show the complexity of the characters. The members of the `Firm' have jobs to do when there is not a game (believe me nor not, one of them is an airplane pilot by profession), and not exactly bad guys at all, but when it comes to football games and the rivalry between the Firms, they turn fierce and unstoppable street fighters who have their own rules to follow. You cannot say the script is an in-depth study of hooligans, but still good enough to make us care its characters.

Besides its violent scenes, the criticism we hear against `Green Street Hooligans' is about its cast, Elijah Wood in particular. Yes, the star of blockbuster hit `Lord of the Rings.' Throughout `GSH' Elijah Wood never looks like a hooligan. For all Matt's repeated bloody fights, he still looks a visitor or outsider in the Green Street Elite, but that is the point of the film because he is there to provide the viewpoint from an outsider. And some UK reviewers complained about the accent of Charlie Hunnam. I don't know because I do not have much linguistic knowledge, but to me his acting as charismatic Pete looked very good (though Leo Gregory as discontented GSE member is more impressive, as you will see).

More serious problem with `Green Street Hooligans' is its incredible and too convenient coincidences in the story, which makes the whole film too melodramatic. Matt happens to have done two (or more) things, which results in a big problem. The far-fetched situation looks totally out of place among the gritty descriptions of hooliganism, and Claire Forlani's character always remains a typical lady-in-distress image, which is another cliché in the filmmaking. German-born director Lexi Alexander sticks to the realistic approach to the street fight sequences (with blood and dirty words), but she somehow is content with the autopilot direction when showing several episodes that are not directly related to hooligans.

But I was intrigued with the main story about the friendship between males, or kind of combat camaraderie depicted in `Green Street Hooligans.' I know this is not the only film about hooliganism - for example, `The Football Factory' and `The Firm' (starring Gary Oldman, not Tom Cruise) - but `Green Street Hooligans' is worth a look even though you don't know football for its strong and compelling main story.

Although I do not follow the game of football (do not call it soccer) I was drawn to this movie because I like Charlie Hunnam and he did not disappoint in the role of Pete the leader of a group of football fanatics (or hooligans) who enjoy bashing heads and maiming the followers of the opposing teams. The movie starts out with Elijah Woods character (Matt) getting booted out of Harvard due to the actions of his roommate (your typical priviliged jerk) so he heads over to London to visit his sister who is married to Pete's brother Stephen. At first Pete and Matt do not hit it off since Matt is a Yank and rather conservative. A few pints later with the mates and Matt becomes a member of the hooligans. There are quite a few fight scenes, lots of blood, but the movie keeps you on edge throughout and the ending is both tragic yet justice is served.

Touted in the United States as the Film Hollywood doesn't want you to see, Green Street Hooligans crept into six theaters on September 9th and posted a weekend gross of $48,000, that is about $7,000 per site, which Hollywood would not have believed, considering the top grosser of the previous week (on 3,000 screens), eked out a per site gross of $6,000. So, why is this new Elijah Wood film being released by its makers and promoted by Wood's fans. Maybe because the Hollywood machine has misunderstood the film, thinking it's a violent gang picture about the underground of a British sport starring a cute furry Hobbit. My, my-have they seen it? Have they bothered to attend a Film Festival where it garnered rave reviews and awards? Well, the cats out of the bag and this riveting, taut, well-performed film has made a mighty entrance, blasting to hell the finite obscurity of Hollywood moguls.

Simply premised, a Harvard drop-out (expelled) visits his sister in London has a chance encounter with an in-law who takes him under his wing and introduces him to organized British hooliganism, the Firms-in this case the Green Street Elite, wrapped around the fanaticism of Football (that sport we call in the states Society Football; or SOCCER). But the film is not about Football or the violence attached to the Firms. It's deeply entrenched in primal man-the tribal man of the village. Margaret Mead would be quite at home (rest her soul) observing the rival firms standing and riling each other, much like Neanderthals at a Mammoth hunt. The script wanders a bit on a thin plot, but allows the message to be clear. When you share a central bond with villagers and stand your ground, you have invested your soul in the collective reputation of the tribe. Outsiders, who lack this, are mere wimps.

Elijah Wood as the Yank, Matt Buckner is superb as he grows a pair of balls over the length of the film. If you don't mind seeing everyone's favorite Hobbit have the stuffing beaten out of him, and scrapping like the Dickens and enjoying the violence incrementally, you'll be okay. The acting job is sterling and filled with the steel that overtakes the character. His mentor, Pete, played by Charlie Hunnam, rushes like a river through the work, giving it buoyancy. Hunnam's cockney cleverness and leadership keeps the film alive and crisp, never a boring moment. In fact, the violence, which is not gratuitous, but organic to the work, draws you in to take a good look. This is the real stuff and we want to see Elijah Wood slam and get slammed, and Charlie Hunnam lead the tribe to victory. Of course, there are villains and naturally, a moral twist as the simple plot and theme gets aced by human failures, which drains all the nobility from the initial premise.

Excellent performances are delivered by Leo Gregory who plays Bovver, the fly in the Firm's ointment; and Geoff Bell and Terrence Jay, the bad guys, each on opposite sides of the pond draw out our natural tendancy to hiss on cue. Claire Forlani as Matt's sister delivers a credible performance, trying to match Elijah Wood with Buckner family nuances. Lexi Alexander, in her first directorial credit, does a splendid job handling angle and shot, many of which are iconic and deliver memorable punches, much like Elijah's Wood facial essays, which dot this film more than his others.

Rated R for language (not only the proverbial F word, but also a bushel of the more offending C word) and mild drug use, the only thing this film lacks is sex-and if it were included, that would have been gratuitous. With strong performances from all cast members and particularly from their flagship, Elijah Wood, this is one film that may not be for all young Hobbits, but (I predict) will linger in the halls of film favorites for years to come. The film that Hollywood doesn't want you to see should be seen as often as possible, if not for the brilliance of the work, for no other reason than a firm vote of confidence for all grass roots efforts in the world of the creative arts. A+.

You gotta know England to really get this movie. Charlie Hunnam nails the part of Pete Dunham, the guy who introduces Matt Buckner (Elijah Wood) to the GSE, Green Street Elite. It's all about reputation and good fun with a bunch of lads having a ruck with their mates. But no matter what, you stand your ground!

We finally get to see Elijah Wood in a role that suits him. He's absolutely brilliant and far underrated. He may be soft-spoken and have big eyes, but Elijah is a lot smarter than what people give him credit for. Unlike his peers who stick to the "teenager/high school" genre, he has no problems tackling emotional dramas or independent roles. In the future, this'll be old hat to him while everyone else tries to catch up.

Someone mentioned he didn't have the "edge" or the "look" of a member of a London street gang, but I disagree. He played Matt Buckner spot on. I mean, the guy got kicked out of Harvard for something he didn't do, and he didn't fight back because he's never been in a fight. Then he meets Pete Dunham who brings him into a world where prestigious titles and station don't make a lick of difference. Or as Pete would say, "That means f--- all!"

Next to LOTR, this is Elijah Wood's best role. Definitely worth adding to your DVD collection.

Some of the other reviews cracked me up, especially the ones bad mouthing this movie because it wasnt just violence constantly or it wasnt made to there liking as a cult movie... well i imagine it wasnt ment to be the donnie darko of football so if you dont like, drama and a good storyline and an insight into what england is really like when it comes to football fans, me myself live in england and i see this kinda thing all the time, this movie isnt really for you if your a english football fan either because it shows exactly what useless ppl they generally are, beating each other around because of a game..

if you want a good insight into what the world of england really is like, watch it, if you want to be dillusional about what england is like, dont watch it, we are not a lovely country with lovely people, someone once said "it doesnt take much to do a drive by, anyone can do that, but to beat someone to death with your bare hands really shows your got a blackheart, those yanks should come to england and witness gang crimes and they wouldnt last 5 minutes" and this is portrayed really well in this movie..

think of the crips gang joining beating... multiply it by all the teams in the football leagues then multiplay it by the thousands of fans each team has.. scary stuff, thats also shown in this movie

GREEN STREET HOOLIGANS is much easier on the psyche to watch in the home DVD version than in the theater release. It is a story so packed with violence that the underlying subplots get lost until the film is reduced to the size of a television screen. Lexi Alexander wrote (with Dougie Brimson and Joshua Shelov) and directed this tense story about the strange cults ('firms') of grown men who align with the various soccer/football teams in London, accompanying the games with intense fighting in the manner of 'hooliganism'. The story is well told by introducing a Yank into this atmosphere, allowing the viewer to see the origins and machinations of hooliganism from a fairly unbiased stance.

Matt Buckner (Elijah Wood) has just been expelled form Harvard in his last semester, taking the blame for his coke-snorting hotshot roommate whose family is too important for such blunderings. Somewhat without direction and not having his degree in journalism completed (Matt's father - Henry Goodman - is a high ranking international journalist whose time is spent in foreign ports since the death of Matt's mother) Matt flies to London to live with his sister Shannon (Claire Forlani) and her husband Steve (Marc Warren) and their young son. Steve's rowdy brother Pete (Charlie Hunnam) interrupts Matt's arrival with a demand for money from his older brother and reluctantly accepts the company of the new Yank Matt in order to gain cash from Steve. What ensues is Matt's introduction to the GSE (Green Street Elite), a firm of men who defend the honor and success of their chosen soccer team: there are many such firms of street violence gangs who vie for ranking within the city. Matt is plunged into this violent situation and learns form Pete the importance of gang stance: always protect your brothers and never flee a fight. The story grows increasingly complex and intense as we learn the backgrounds for hate and intolerance, one of these hates is for journalists and when it is discovered that Matt was a journalism major at Harvard the news nearly causes Matt's life. But Matt slowly identifies with the firm and grows into a sense of individuality that he has never had, giving him the ability to face the realities of his father's absence and to understand the precarious marriage of his sister whose husband is a 'reformed' hooligan. In the end there is a 'justification' for the violence witnessed, but the audience must be willing to view that justification from an altered stance.

The film is paced well and the cast is excellent, with special kudos to Elijah Wood, Claire Forlani, Marc Warren, Charley Hunnan, and to the fine supporting cast members including Leo Gregory as the unfortunate snitch, Terence Jay as the coke-addicted Harvard roommate, and a large cast of 'firm members' whose fighting techniques are well choreographed and captured by cinematographer Alexander Buono. Like THE FIGHT CLUB this film is not for all audiences, but the messages underneath all of the violence are well worth thought. Grady Harp, August 07

It took me a while to get to this one. Elijah Woods is in the same mold as Tobey Maguire, a cold biscuit and no butter. Worse still, a cracker and a glass of water-- not too exciting.

I got it with a free movie voucher. My lady saw the box and wasn't too excited, but it was Sunday night and we both had to be up in the morning for work. It really didn't matter.

I slid the disc in. Right off we're in a tiled subway between bickering gangs. Words erupt into violence. Snapshots of wet, pummeled faces piss blood at the screen. Then the action cuts to a Harvard dorm.

Matt Buckner (Wood), a journalism student, is packing, expelled, framed for cocaine possession by his well-connected roommate. He flies to England to live with his sister Shannon (Claire Forlani) and her husband Steve (Marc Warren). Pete (Charlie Hunnam), Shannon's brother-in-law, heads a hooligan "firm" called GSE (The Green Street Elite). Enroute to a "football" (soccer) game, Matt and Pete run into rival hooligans. Outnumbered, Matt's first impulse is to run. But Pete lives by the Hooligan code called "stand your ground" and Matt is caught in the middle of a hot free-for-all. His instincts take over in the confusion and he fights. His face and knuckles are red and torn in the aftermath, however he learns something college could never teach him. From this point Matt embraces mob violence and Pete becomes his hero.

GREEN STREET is like FIGHT CLUB, and unlike it. They're well shot. The fights aren't pretty but effectively real and scary. Both films are visceral with enough personal and social issues to make the action meaningful. Creative cinematography. CGI in HOOLIGANS is used mainly in the fight scenes. FIGHT CLUB used these effects to create a dreamlike phantasm and fuse reality with the main character's (Norton's) imagination. And this is what makes GREEN STREET different: everything's in the real world. Norton, in FIGHT CLUB, constructed an imaginary persona to live through; Wood's hero Pete (Charlie Hunnam) is real. Yin and yang run through both films and the characters playing them are all authentic. For instance, Pete of GREEN STREET expresses a broader range of humanity than Pitt's character in FIGHT CLUB. This is because other people and circumstances aside from hooliganism affect him. Pitt in FIGHT CLUB doesn't have other people to bounce off of. With Wood and Norton the differences are obvious. In FIGHT CLUB, Norton's aggressive alter-ego was always there simmering until Pitt (Tyler Durden) materialized. With Wood there was never a sense of anything building-- Pete happens out of nowhere.

I would recommend this film very highly and rank it up there with REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE. Yes this film's that good. And pay close attention to Charlie Hunnam (Pete). I compare his performance to DeNiro's first film MEAN STREETS; he's very, very good. And Wood is surprisingly effective in his performance as a foil to Hunnam's gritty persona. Buy it, rent it, steal it.

This is one strong and compelling film that's probably been hidden from a lot of viewers and lucky enough I wasn't one of them. I also thought it was very interesting to learn about the organization of "The Firms," I never knew such a thing existed either. Before I seen this film I thought of Hooliganism as a bunch of young drunken idiots, who like to pick fights, etc...... but that clearly wasn't the case. As an American, I struggled a bit with the heavy British accents but I pick up on it really fast and this shouldn't be any reason for the film to be held back especially what it entails.

Elijah Wood, as Matt, plays a "Yank" in London and gets sucked into a kind of friendship that you just do not walk into lightly. He plays the off centered role very well and is clearly a departure in character that begs Hollywood planning in not playing the nice guy after all that the public knows him for, namely "Lord of the Rings." (Also seen in departure from this role in "Sin City," where he shows his mettle). Elijah has done this role very well at standing back and letting the story unfold around him, and not trying to take the spotlight. The cast is neatly assembled from well known, and not so well known, British actors and most give a five star performance. Claire Forlani's emotional performance rang very true. Leo Gregory was excellent, managing to make me loathe him, and then breaking my heart all in one film! Charlie Hunnam was good, but in that naturalistic way that makes it look as though no actual acting is going on! The fight scenes, while clearly disturbing, did not bother me so much. There is a lot of violence, mostly out of shot and stylized into fast motion photography, but it works well in making you try to hide and, at the same time, face up to the supposed life of part of UK football society.

Some have said that they found the end scene in which Matt confronts his college roommate to be gratuitous, but I did not. Matt was demonstrating the he was not to be messed with, while stopping short of physical harm, and it wrapped up the movie's theme nicely for me. This film is worth seeing.

About half way through director Lexi Alexander's violent and blood-socked Green Street Hooligans, I started wondering who actually pays for all the damage these hooligans cause and who picks up the tab on all the medical bills when these guys are often beaten into unconsciousness?

Green Street Hooligans is gritty and brutal and has a real edgy street flavor that will probably be a bit much for some viewers, but the film does an excellent job of showing how the British fans of soccer are rabid to the point of violence, delivering up lesson quite spectacularly to Elijah Wood, playing an American who gets caught up in a London gang.

Wood plays Matt Buckner, a timid journalism major who is banished from Harvard when the powers that be discover drugs in his dorm, planted by his roommate. Faced with no other options he travels to London to visit his married sister Shannon (Claire Forlani) who lives with her British husband, Steve (Marc Warren).

Steve was once an ex-hooligan - although now he lives in a lavish London apartment and one wonders what he does to afford such a pad - but he's given up the rebel-rousing life to become a family man. His younger brother Pete (Charlie Hunnam) is the current head of the "firm" - or gang - of West Ham. Matt falls in with Pete and Pete takes Matt to his first soccer game, Matt experiences the distinctive comradeship of soccer and after the game, he gets into the first fight of his life with an opposing team.

Matt's initial apprehension regarding violence turns into a veritable appetite for it. As the battles turn increasingly bloodier, Matt must choose between the two worlds he's known, whether to continue to live on the edge with Pete or go back to his sister in her nice, middle-class world.

The strength of the film is in the enormous appeal of Wood and Hunnam. Wood is exceptional in this role - it's certainly a nice departure from Frodo - and he really manages to capture Matt's wide-eyed innocence combined with the thrill of discovering an unfamiliar brand of violence and unashamedly embracing it. And Hunnam - one of Britain's most promising actors is absolutely magnetic as Pete.

Observably, the theme of Green Street Hooligans is the ultimate impact of violence, how it can have devastating collateral effects and how the penchant for it is endemic in all of us. Alexander challenges the notion that violence is controllable - so many of these young men live so precariously treating violence like a right of passage or a blood sport; it's almost like a lifestyle to them.

The movie manages to deliver up a balance between morality - that nagging element of conscience - and the fact violence that can overwhelm those who get a taste for it. My only hesitation with this film is that it tends to romanticize these men as good, when they're not. The movie doesn't try to hide the appeal of hooliganism for its supporters but doesn't exactly preach either.

When the fights occur, they're handled expeditiously; the violence here is not gratuitous or unwarranted. And Alexander certainly knows this subject; she has a firm handle on the story and seems to fully understand the overriding notion that we can't escape our evolution and our capacity for violence even if we wanted to. Mike Leonard July 06.