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Fighting by different rules
Omigod, they hurt Frodo! Don't worry—Elijah Wood gives as good as he gets in Green Street Hooligans, an infectious drama about an American drawn to the violent lifestyle of English football (what we call soccer) fans. Matt Buckner (Wood) is two months shy of a Harvard journalism degree when he takes the fall for his politically connected roommate in a drug bust. Matt goes to London to visit his sister Shannon (Claire Forlani) and her husband Steve (Marc Warren). He's soon shunted off to stay with Steve's brother Pete (Charlie Hunnam), who's initially hostile toward foreigners. Hostility is the name of the game for Pete and his pals, known as the Green Street Elite. They may look like a gang, especially when they're rumbling with fans of a rival football team, but locally they're called a firm. That's like a fan club with balls. Mild-mannered Matt quickly proves himself in battle and wins the respect of all the Elite but permanently suspicious Bovver (Leo Gregory). Bovver is so belligerent, even toward his own friends, one wonders how he's stayed in the Elite for so long. But the story needs a wild card and he provides it. In many ways Green Street Hooligans is West Side Story without the female distractions and with football action in place of musical numbers. Everyone's looking for a fight and they have no trouble finding one. Toward the end the plot veers so close to West Side Story it's hard to take it seriously. German-born director Lexi Alexander, a former world kickboxing champion, doesn't bring a woman's touch to the proceedings. Making her first feature she shows great technique in covering the action on and off the football field. She does adequate work in the dramatic scenes, which are obviously a lower priority all around. "What happens at football stays at football," Pete teaches Matt, making it sound like the first rule of Fight Club. Green Street Hooligans breaks that rule, its American protagonist bringing us into the middle of this alien culture of violence and showing how easily some people's inner savage can be brought out. Steve Warren is a local actor and film reviewer. His reviews can also be seen weekly in the Sunday Paper. |
Green Street Hooligans
Directed by: Lexi Alexander 
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(2½ out of 4)