Length: 06:13
Logline: A glimpse into the drink inducing world of amateur football.
Finding it hard to find any decent shorts online at the moment so took a gander back at some of the previously reviewed filmmakers that stood out for me. From the director who brought you the excellent Myxomatosis, this is a hilarious documentary focusing on the enthusiastic but pie-eyed exploits of the Wodson Park football club.
This one's all about the structure for me (cos, like, I hate football, eh). A quick edited introduction with music opens our eyes to the shouty on pitch violence as well as hinting at team camaraderie. The stakes are firmly stated with the cup final title card and then we meet the players. The narrative of the film lets this band of brothers introduce each other to camera with varying degrees of opinion being shown. The shifting point of view perspective makes for good comedy as well as giving us some great on screen characters.
The heart of the story comes with the introduction of team mascot, Ashley, who's maybe a bit on the slow side (explained by him having epilepsy?). Simon, the manager, tells us that they're really winning for this guy who's in the little brother they all want to protect role. Cut to the cup final match and in true reality TV form, there's a tense re-inactment of 'Escape to Victory' where the team are down 2-0 after the first half. There's a will-they-won't-they build up before SPOILER: they win, yay. Cue the drinking celebrations, which possibly started before the match did, and the resolution of the story of how it's helped Ashley become a more socially rounded person (or somethink).
Good stuff.
Best Bit: Clever manipulative editing.
Worst Bit: Canny make out half of the stuff they're roaring unfortunately.
Final thought: I feel a new reality TV show coming on.
Read a condensed review of this film on Twitter here.
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