Director: Tom Hooper
Writer: Peter Morgan (Screenplay) David Peace (Novel)
Starring: Michael Sheen, Timothy Spall, Colm Meaney, Jim Broadbent, Stephen Graham
Plot: A look at Brian Clough’s 44-day reign as the coach of Leeds United.
There may be spoilers the rest of the review
Verdict: Very Interesting
Story: The Damned United starts when Don Revie (Meaney) leaves his job as Leeds United manager being replaced by the controversial Brian Clough (Sheen). Brian goes straight into the job making an enemy of himself against the former manager as we learn the motivation for his actions where he was at Derby County a lower league club that played Leeds in a cup match where Don completely blanks him.
We flash between the two time periods as we watch the success at Derby and failure at Leeds, where we see how the friendship with Peter Taylor (Spall) is best friend and person he turns to for players at Derby but distant enemy while at Leeds.
The Damned United is the story of one of the most interesting men in football management in Brian Clough, I never personally got to experience Clough as a manager but I knew about his accomplishments. I found this very interesting as we see the battle between the two managers which works as we would believe to see this happen now a day. I did like how the story bounced between the time periods which works to keep everything running smoothly.
Actor Review
Michael Sheen: Brian Clough is the famous controversial manager who rose to success with Derby County where he gets the chance to work and move to Leeds United. We see his success at Derby and failures at Leeds showing the style he has created and is still talked about now. Michael is brilliant in this role capturing Brian Clough perfectly.
Timothy Spall: Peter Taylor is the loyal assistant of Clough’s who helped him reach the title with Derby but with the clash they find themselves distant with Clough at Leeds and Taylor stepping down the leagues to Brighton. Timothy is great in this supporting role bouncing off Michael very well.
Colm Meaney: Don Revie is the former Leeds manager who leaves his job for England but has become the target of Brian Clough who always wanted to get one over. Colm is good in this role without outshining Michael.
Jim Broadbent: Sam Longson is the chairman of Derby County, he constantly clashes with Brian Clough, he runs out of patients with him even after all the success he had bought the club. Jim is good in this role working well with Michael.
Support Cast: The Damned United has a great supporting cast that all give us great performance as the iconic footballers.
Director Review: Tom Hooper – Tom gives us a great biographical film that shows just how impressive this man really was.
Biographical: The Damned United shows the abilities of one of the greatest managers’ football ever saw.
Comedy: The Damned United has a solid comic tone which is mostly how Clough looked at basic ideas of managing.
Sports: The Damned United brings us good football action throughout.
Settings: The Damned United recreates the settings for the time period really well making us think we are in the same time zone.
Suggestion: The Damned United is one for everyone to watch, it is always good to learn a brilliant story of success and failure going next to each other. (Watch)
Best Part: First day at Leeds
Worst Part: You would need to know something about football to really understand how some things happen.
Favourite Quote: Brian Clough ‘I wouldn’t say I was the best manager in the country. But I’m in the top one.’
Believability: Based on the real events.
Chances of Tears: No
Chances of Sequel: No
Post Credits Scene: No
Oscar Chances: No
Budget: $10 Million
Runtime: 1 Hour 38 Minutes
Tagline: “They love me for what I’m not… …they hate me for what I am.”
Overall: Brilliant Sports biographical movie about a great man
Rating
