Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Bend it like beckham

This is topic Bend it like beckham in forum Film Handlers' Movie Reviews at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

To visit this topic, use this URL:
https://ft-forum.com/ft/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=4;t=000358

Posted by Brad Haven (Member # 954) on 07-25-2002, 07:39 AM:

This has to be one of the worst films to come OUT of England for atleast the last 5 years!, the worst thing is that it's been one of our highest grossing films of the year (second, behind AMELIE)and i'm one of only a very few who doesn't love it(i hate it!).
This film is CHEAP in every possible way from the directing to the acting ,writing, lighting ,choice of music for the soundtrack(SPICEGIRLS???)...i could go on and name everything in the film but i'm lazy!.
I hate the way they stick these things into arthouse cinemas to try and give them credibility! , FREDDY GOT FINGERED...AGAIN coming to an arthouse cinema near you??? .

...i feel slightly better now!.

Posted by Peter Berrett (Member # 672) on 08-02-2002, 06:03 AM:

Brad

Yes it was cheaply done but most of my friends and I liked it. Hey if we Aussies can make cheap films like The Castle and get away with it I don't begrudge the Brits their opportunity.

I wouldn't say it was the greatest film ever made but it was ok.

cheers Peter

Posted by Charles Everett (Member # 889) on 08-03-2002, 10:57 AM:

Bend It Like Beckham is a mainstream smash in the UK and an arthouse smash in Oz. I'm surprised no US studio has picked it up for the States.

After all, the real Beckham makes the gossip columns over here too.

Posted by Charles Everett (Member # 889) on 08-09-2002, 06:48 PM:

Update: Fox Searchlight has picked up Bend It Like Beckham for US release in 2003.

Posted by John Wilson (Member # 269) on 08-10-2002, 03:37 AM:

Well, someone must like it...we've been running it now for 6 weeks and it has been number one at the Ritz for all of those six weeks. Stayed in our 850 seater for the first 4 of those six weeks. Fourth Saturday night early show still pulled just short of 600 patrons.

These ones don't come along that often. A blockbuster that stays blockbusting more than 1 week!

Read an article in variety about movies not having legs anymore and it's true, but every now and then...

Posted by Brad Haven (Member # 954) on 08-10-2002, 05:48 AM:

I am most definitely in the minority with my hatred for this film, even after 6 weeks it's still doing well at both of our locations, i'm doing a holiday relief at our other location and they're screening the bloody thing to, no escape!!.

I believe that "beckham" is number two on the australian box office, behind "about a boy" i believe.
I must admit i do occasionally enjoy hating the odd film!!.

[ 02-17-2003, 10:07 AM: Message edited by: Brad Haven ]

Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 02-15-2003, 06:19 PM:

This is a real crowd-pleaser. It's not going to be the next [Trainspotting | Full Monty | Billy Eliot], but it's a fun little British film which should do good business in the US. It's a nice coming-of-age type of story about overcoming adversity which will appeal to many different demographics.

My only complaint is that it seems to have been edited in order to sell soundtrack recordings--they somehow managed to include an insane number of different musical pieces within the film. This isn't a bad thing per se, but it just feels a bit awkward in some places. This is more of an observation than a complaint, actually.

Posted by Oliver Pasch (Member # 1335) on 02-16-2003, 02:24 PM:

Sorry - but i love it!

I've seen it first at last years screening at CinemaExpo-Tradeshow in Amsterdam - at 9 a.m.. Imagine this: the whole european movie business crowd early in the morning after having had a vine or two too much the evening before supposed to attend a film about a girl from india playing soccer. Well, nobody knew what to expect, but it received standing ovations afterwards!

"Bend it like Beckham" didn't do very well or at least the way it should have at Germanies boxoffice because the distributor advertised it as - once again - " a film about a girl from india playing soccer". But nevertheless: this is pure cinema entertainment to be seen in a sold out theatre and definitely one of the best films of 2002.

Posted by Pravin Ratnam (Member # 1417) on 02-17-2003, 02:20 AM:

I thought it was watchable. The lead actress was fine, but the rest of the cast was acting like this movie was a sitcom. Saw it on DVD and the smallness of the picture makes you not miss the theater anyway. Bhaji on the beach by the same filmmaker was better. Gurindher Chada is really coasting by on the relative newness of the indian genre set in other countries. I do not see any great filmmaking at work here. When better brit-indian or indian american movies come along in the future, this movie will look like a run of the mill sitcom(which it actually does resemble even now). There have been better indian movies made by british and american based filmmakers that haven't gotten half the publicity this movie has generated.

Big Fat Greek Wedding had the same advantage. Being one of the early films in a given genre and nothing to do with the freshness of the writing.

Posted by Greg Mueller (Member # 17) on 02-17-2003, 10:02 AM:

We saw this on the plane ride to Oz last November. I enjoyed it, not because it was any great production or story, but because of the insights it gave (true or not) into the life and culture of the family from India. I enjoyed it, that's all

Posted by John Spooner (Member # 1565) on 02-17-2003, 10:15 AM:

"BEND IT" also did very well in our theatres in Adelaide.
Could someone advise me what the girl`s father did for work, I would presume something in the aviation line going by several scenes featuring aircraft.
John Spooner. South Australia.

Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 02-17-2003, 11:11 AM:

I thought her Dad worked in airline security.

I enjoyed the film when they screened it at ShowEast last October. We have some good friends from India, and the "clash of cultures" (e.g., arranged marriages) portrayed seemed accurate, much as in "My Big Fat Greek Wedding".

Posted by Michael Schaffer (Member # 1204) on 02-17-2003, 08:59 PM:

I really liked this movie very much. I thought the actors were very good, especially the girl playing the main part, but also her father and her best friend`s mother. I loved the scene where she visits her best friend and the mother eavesdrops on their argument and thinks they are lesbians. Just the way the mother freezes and pretends not to be there when the girl races down the stairs!
The comparison with Greek Wedding comes to mind of course since both are "ethnic" comedies and I found this movie much, much better. It had a lot of funny details like the picture of the family`s guru ("swear to Baba!") and very good ideas like the opening scene where she dreams to play for England. This kind of humour appeals to me much more than Wedding`s style.
I hate Spice Girls too, but this movie is set in a young girl`s world...

I am not sure, but I think her father could also be a pilot. He mentions that he went to college and seems to be rather well-off for a security guy. He could also be a flight controller or something like that.

Posted by Claude S. Ayakawa (Member # 1401) on 02-18-2003, 02:31 AM:

Charles Everett said the film has been picked up by Fox Searchlight Pictures for 2003 release here in the US.

Charles, do you know when it is scheduled to open here? I saw the movie trailer on the "BANGER SISTERS" DVD and it looks like a film I will enjoy.

-Claude

Posted by Christian Sinclair (Member # 1557) on 03-17-2003, 05:15 AM:

Bend It Like Beckham was released over here in 2001 and was a big hit. I don't think it was ever intended to be the best movie ever made - just a feel good movie. It really captures summer in suburban England well and as for the Spice Girls , well there anen't any of their songs in the film, just a couple of Melanie C's who USED to be in the Spice Girls.

BTW- Her father definately wasn't a pilot... especially if they lived in Hounslow! I think by his uniform he worked for Customs.

Posted by Scott Jentsch (Member # 1681) on 04-14-2003, 02:06 PM:

I enjoyed Bend It Like Beckham thoroughly!

I have to admit, I didn't want to see it. The plot summary sounded like a non-starter, and I didn't feel like seeing a movie with cultural references that I probably wouldn't understand.

I was wrong.

It's a difficult movie to describe accurately, and really needs to be experienced. Will it have a lasting impact and/or an appearance at the Oscars or Golden Globes? No. Was it fun to watch, and enjoyable to remember certain scenes? Yes.

Recommended.

Scott J.
Publisher of The BigScreen Cinema Guide

Posted by Michael Schaffer (Member # 1204) on 04-14-2003, 05:09 PM:

NEW BERLIN? [Eek!]

Posted by Charles Everett (Member # 889) on 04-20-2003, 01:16 PM:

AMC Hamilton, 4/19/2003, 4:20 PM show. Hall #22, attendance ~60 -- might have been their busiest matinee on a very slow Saturday.

Sorry, Brad H. THIS is the big-studio pickup of the year. Fox is promoting Bend It Like Beckham as a "girl power" movie. The US trailer pushes the "girl power" angle and the newspaper ads hint at it. Besides, why take a dig at the Spice Girls? One of them is married to the real Beckham!

Scott N. took a dig at the "album-friendly" soundtrack. Maybe it's not a Footloose/Top Gun-style soundtrack but it's bearable for my ears. At least I got a hoot hearing "The Power of Love" sung in Punjabi.

Image: Too high on the screen in the first part of R1 (until the booth reset the framing knob). Dirt and some white splotches around the changeovers. Also, the US prints may lack sharpness -- US prints have FotoKem color per the end credits.

Sound: Good despite a mix that made some dialogue/music quasi-intelligible. The booth turned the sound up to put a little punch into the Fox fanfare.

Posted by Paul Linfesty (Member # 214) on 05-18-2003, 01:05 PM:

BEND IT LIKE BECKMAN is no great shakes of a movie, but it manages to do what it wants to do, and makes the audience feel good by the conclusion. It crosses ethnic lines very well, in that we all have dreams that our parental and societal groop may not approve of or think practical for us, but in the end it is up to us to make our future happen. A common theme in movies, but a genuine emotion effect nonetheless.

Posted by Kristin Wahlund (Member # 922) on 08-05-2003, 12:12 AM:

I really didn't know what to expect of this movie when I watched it but, I ended up likeing it. I do have to see it again because there were rowdy kids and I had to find one of our elusive managers to remove them before the rest of the audience whent nuts (they had already been shouting for them to shut up) but I liked it. very "feel good."