Set in the 1980s, Dom is a teenager who finds himself drawn into the charismatic world of football 'casuals,influenced by the firm's top boy, Bex. Accepted by the gang for his fast mouth and sense of humor, Dom soon becomes one the boys. But as Bex and his gang clash with rival firms across the country and the violence spirals out of control, Dom realizes he wants out - until he learns it's not that easy to simply walk away.
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I've seen this same movie before in 'Cass' and 'Green Street Hooligans' -both of which I preferred. I'm Canadian and I still don't get the whole "hooliganism" thing. Why were these guys killing each other over footie teams? Anyways, this version follows 'Dom' a young football casual who gets drawn into the dangerous world of "The Firm" because of his fast mouth and sense of humour, then as the violence reaches a peak he finds he can't get out.This was still pretty good. I loved the authentic language filled with rhyming slang and pikey-isms and Dom's parents were sweet and just hilarious. A great (nostalgic) soundtrack too if you grew up in the eighties. Those outfits/sweatsuits the guys wore just killed me, and they thought they looked so cool. Dom's parents were right, he looked liked a postal box. 03.13
The late Alan Clarke's original 1988 version of The Firm was an allegory on the Thatcher regime dealing with the rise of football violence in the suburbs. The story concerned the activities of the ICC (Inner City Crew), a gang of West Ham supporters who engaged in pitched battles with their rival clubs' hooligan contingent. I missed it the first time around and only caught up with it very recently on DVD and found it to be a dated, campy, theatrical affair that seemed more concerned with presenting a political parallel to the Iron Lady's tyranny than properly addressing that era's (equally troubling) violence on the terraces. At the very least though, it did have a point and a purpose, both of which must have run for the hills when the 'genius' that is Nick Love (the non-thinking man's Guy Ritchie) came a-knocking at this particular property's door for a Noughties 'reimagining'.With an impressive lack of insight/understanding for the source material, Mockney-boy Love launches his audience head first into an ineptly staged 1984 set tale, of a young wannabe soccer lout, Dom (Calum McNab), finding himself befriended and welcomed into the ICC's ranks by top dog, Bex (Paul Anderson), only to get on his bad side when he develops cold feet and tries to make a run for it.Love club-footedly hops from one ill devised scene to the next, assaulting the senses with his trademark tin-eared dialogue and vacuous pop-promo visuals, making it increasingly obvious that he has no more interest in the psychological make-up of working class hoodlums than he does in trying to hone credible performances from his largely wooden cast. In fact, the whole enterprise has amateur hour written all over it: too much of the story takes place in too few locations, instantly betraying it's meagre budget and giving the proceedings a fake, plastic sheen. A skilled and talented director would have pulled out all the stops to paper over the cracks and create the illusion of a more costly production, but Love's lack of flair and imagination insures he does neither. This woeful handling of resources ultimately undoes the fight scenes too. Anyone who was around during that period (like I was), will clearly remember that these gang battles took place inside the grounds, and not on the streets as they're depicted here. Were you aiming for a revisionist angle Mr Love?Worst of all though, is the dispiriting, vulgar display of designer sportswear on show. Instead of using this cosmetic tick as an incidental background detail to enhance the story's sense of time and place, it's pushed crassly to the front line for a crude catwalk assembly of primary coloured tracksuits and 'smart casual' togs, resulting in an overstuffed canvas of Logo-porn to lather up the army of Ad*das fetishists this shameless parade is no doubt squarely aimed at.And if none of that has 'whetted' your appetite, then all the above is accompanied by a putrid, pumping 80's disco-pap soundtrack to give your ears a kicking as well as your eyes. 'Enjoy'.
first i really disappointed after watching this movie.. what i aspect to be a great movie like its predecessor Green Street Hooligan melt like an ice cream.. green street hooligan far more interesting than this,the plot cover every way,from life ,pride, conflict, fight, brave and humor.. i think the main plot here was about the football fan life but its failed as it was too straight forward,directly into some kind of hooligan-wannabe but in immature way.. the fight was interesting but other than that its awful,no 'soul' in this movie that make it interesting.. it doesn't focus on what a football fan for even about hooligan-wannabe but more into gang fight, territory,revenge and power.. if i have to compare this and the old one green street hooligan then i have to say that this movie is more to plagiarize the green street hooligan than its own story.. sad to say,i think only amateur (well maybe i'm an amateur too because i like it at first) would like this movie and perhaps it director itself also an amateur.. well its worth to watch but maybe Ben 10 is more worth it.. 2 thumb for the Green Street Hooligan but 4/10 on this as its 4 goes only into fight but still not worth a single thumb up..
STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning A re-make of the 1988 TV play with Paul Anderson taking over Gary Oldman's original role as Bex, the property agent whose buzz in life is being the head boy of The West Ham Firm. Young upstart Dom (Calum McNab) and his friend try to challenge his authority in a nightclub, but are soon put on the spot and made to issue a grovelling apology. But Bex takes a shine to Dom and invites him to join his army...but as events go on, it becomes more and more clear how Bex's drive for his 'buzz' has pushed him over the edge.I'd been expecting an adaptation of The Sweeney to be Nick Love's next filmic venture, but instead this re-make of Alan Clarke's original TV film has arrived. It's still set in the 80s but nostalgia for that era is the main decent thing you take away from this film.There's no drive to this version of The Firm, no 'oompth' or real wow factor. It may be that the 'football hooligan' movie has been done to death and everything's a bit too predictable, but the tracksuits the main characters wear are the most colourful thing about the film. It's like a joyless version of The Football Factory, with nowhere near as much energy or real raw power to it. The clashes between the rival firms, separated as best as they can by the police on patrol, have a realistic air of disorder and lack of control to them but there's no really juicy bust ups to any of it. The film sort of just ambles along with no real narrative flow or direction, and with a distinct lack of fun or excitement to the proceedings.Performances wise, rising star Daniel Mays feels wasted as Bex's sworn enemy Yeti, whilst as the man himself Anderson gives no real power to the role. He must have known he'd have to pull off a miracle to deliver anything even close to Oldman's raw intensity, but even if you don't expect too much you feel short changed.The one thing it can boast is a reliably decent 80s soundtrack. But you get the feeling Love might be starting to take himself a bit too seriously and could end up alienating the fan boys who first got him noticed. **
