Mini Film Review – Mike Bassett: England Manager

Yesterday I watched Mike Bassett: England Manager; and it was pretty good! Directed by Steve Barron, and starring Ricky Tomlinson, Amanda Redman, and Bradley Walsh; Mike Bassett: England Manager is a satirical mockumentary film about the appointment of a new England Football Team manager, whose only previous experience of Football management, was in the lower English leagues. The film starts as it means to go on, by being as funny as possible, with many quick jokes that make you laugh out loud. The film carries on this pace, by showing off Mike Bassett’s traditional/historical football view point, by employing tactics that may have won games decades ago, but struggles to work in a more modern setting. These involve the training regime, to hiring former stars who are now either incredibly violent players, or scoring legends, who haven’t scored a single goal in over two years. But the dramatic fall of the team in the rankings lead to some more funny moments, as well as the film’s more heart warming dramas, as Mike Bassett takes the negativity and turns it on its head to inspire him to lead the team on to several major victories, and patch things up with his family. OK, the ending is rather predictable and unclimactic, but this heart warming turnaround creates a really touching conclusion!