'The Damned United' review

Michael Sheen (Credit: Laurie Sparham/Sony Classics)

The story of British soccer manager (or, as we say in the States, coach) Brian Clough (Michael Sheen) who worked his way up to one of the sport’s top jobs: managing Leeds United for their 1974 season. The gig furthered his rivalry with previous Leeds United leader Don Revie (Colm Meany) and compromised his friendship with loyal assistant manager Peter Taylor (Timothy Spall). This film alternates between flashbacks to Clough’s rise to prominence and the drama of his shaky performance in Leeds.

The buzz: Director Tom Hooper steps up for his first theatrical film after building quite a reputation with high-end British television and HBO movies including "John Adams," "Elizabeth I" and "Prime Suspect: The Last Witness." He has an acclaimed collaborator in writer Peter Morgan, who adapted David Peace's celebrated novel "The Damned Utd.," which mixed fact and fiction to tell Clough's story. Carrying it all on screen is Sheen in his own star showcase after delivering a pair of excellent performances in Morgan's "The Queen" and "Frost/Nixon" only to see his co-stars win most of the accolades.

The verdict: Hooper brings a great deal of style and integrity to a minor (and, for Americans, utterly foreign) sports story that would easily feel every bit at home on the small screen. Fortunately, this classy light drama gets its larger than life scope from Clough's own massive ego and Sheen's sharp performance in the role. Continuing a serendipitous actor-writer partnership, Sheen once again brings the skills of a great actor to bear on one of Morgan's grand characterizations of real people. "United" also scores points with its unusual focus on a coach’s life and professional ambitions, leaving the players on the sidelines. This is one sports movie that’s up front about the way winning games can simply be the means to bigger goals. Fame, fortune, admiration—Clough wants it all. Balancing out the narcissism is the warm-fuzzy bromance between Clough and Taylor. By using their relationship as the film's emotional core, "United" finds its own way to reinforce the old sports-as-metaphor-for-life truism that a man can lead the charge on his own but he needs teammates to win.

Did you know? Clough’s widow was not a fan of Peace’s book and refuses to see the film, insisting that these versions are too heavy on fiction and light on the facts of her husband’s story.

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