Henry Saw: The Damned United

One of the best sports movies I've seen in a long time...


This is a little English film which was written by Peter Morgan (who previously wrote The Queen and Frost/Nixon) and stars Michael Sheen (who previously starred in The Queen and Frost/Nixon). Sheen, who has made a nice career for himself by playing real and famous people, is at it again as Brian Clough. Clough was already a world renowned football manager when he took over England's top football team Leads United in 1974. Clough, who was obsessed with out-doing Leads' previous manager Don Revie (Colm Meaney), finds his new job difficult as he challenges his new team to play a different, and cleaner, brand of football. The film jumps between showing us Clough's rise at Derby County, much of which was due to the hard work of his assistant manager Peter Taylor (Timothy Spall), and his failure with Leads.

You do not need to be an English Football fan to appreciate this movie. While it doesn't hurt to be somewhat familiar with the way the different leagues work, I don't think it's essential, and this is much more of a character study than an examination of football in the 70s. Sheen is great as Brian Clough. He's appropriately charming and grating. He's so arrogant, and so cock-sure, that you know you would hate the guy if he wasn't running your club. Still, Clough makes for a compelling protagonist, and a lot of that is because of how great Sheen is.



The script is classically structured. The film is properly bookended by riveting television interviews with Clough and the flash-backs are interspersed effectively. Timothy Spall, playing Clough's right-hand-man Peter Taylor, is a standout in these flashback scenes. I also loved one scene showing how Clough was unable to watch one match between Derby and Leads and the particular ways he follows the game...

I don't recommend this film for everyone, this really feels like a movie for guys for one thing, but this is a very strong movie about ambition and arrogance. This deserved wider recognition, even in this country that doesn't care about soccer, and I hope it finds an audience on DVD. The Damned United is definitely worth 2 hours of your time and is one my favorite "hidden gems" of 2009.

Grade: A-

Best Scene: The aforementioned Derby versus Leads scene (the third match-up between the two clubs that we see on screen)