Despite its immense popularity around the globe, the sport of soccer has never really caught on in the United States. Though making strides in recent years, it still comes in a good distance behind football, baseball, basketball, and even hockey. However, every four years when the World Cup comes to the forefront, even the most distant of fans tune in. The sport of soccer (known as football everywhere else) is funneled into every television, living room, and sports bar while millions of Americans complain about rules they don’t understand and cheer for players they don’t know (save for David Beckham who, let’s face it, is a model and not a soccer player).
Even more a mystery than the sport itself is the act of hooliganism, which is the riotous criminal behavior carried out by rabid and overly obsessed fans of each team. One movie to explore such tomfoolery is the 2005 indy film “Green Street Hooligans.”
The film opens with a barbaric and bloody brawl between two rival firms, carried out in in broad daylight just off from public streets. Rivaling a street fight between the Sharks and the Jets, the gunless battle results in broken bones, blood, and bruises amongst the two dozen or so combatants.
Across the pond at Harvard, Journalism student Matt Buckner (Elijah Wood) has just been expelled two months shy of graduating after unwillingly taking the fall for his upper echelon roommate’s drug possession. With no real plan, Matt flies to the United Kingdom to see his older sister Shannon (Claire Forlani) and her husband Steve (Marc Warren). Matt is introduced to Pete (Charlie Hunnam), Steve’s younger brother and the leader of the Green Street Elite firm.
Matt and Pete quickly form a tight bond, with the latter teaching Matt the ways of European Football and the rules of hooliganism. Timid at first, Matt quickly embraces the antics of the firm in an almost unhealthy way. Following in his dad’s journalistic footsteps, Matt documents his interactions with the gang, which may be more dangerous than he realizes. “Sorta like the Yankees and Red Sox,” Matt naively states when discussing one of the firm’s rivals. “More like the Israelis and the Palestinians,” Pete explains.
“Green Street Hooligans” doesn’t fit the mold of a typical sports film. With very little soccer being shown, “Hooligans” plays out more like an English gangster film. Fans of “Snatch” or “Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels” will love the brutish behavior of the characters and the sharp tongued insults dealt out in rapid fire by British accents.
Elijah Wood continues to be an excellent and highly underrated actor. Wood shows the change in Matt from timid Harvard bookworm to a skilled hooligan fighter. Charlie Hunnam who made his name in the TV series “Sons of Anarchy“ as a motorcycle riding heartthrob plays the role of Pete with such fervor you’ll truly believe he’s a from birth fan of West Ham United.
The rest of the Green Street firm is made up of character actors who bring the smell of an English pub right through the screen, from the obnoxious right hand man Bovver (Leo Gregory) to diehard fan Ike (Kieran Bew). Rounding out the cast as the perfect villain is Tommy Hatcher (Geoff Bell) leader of the rival Millwall firm. “If you die tonight, me and you are even,” Hatcher sneers in perfect British form during a tavern skirmish.
Whether or not you’re into soccer, “Green Street Hooligans” offers something for nearly every movie fan. Watch it as a way to learn about the obsession of soccer outside of the States, or as a great action packed gem. After watching, you’ll want to move to London and suit up for a football match.
by – Matt Christopher
