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Green Street

Starring: Elijah Wood, Charlie Hunnam, Marc Warren, Claire Forlani

Director: Lexi Alexander

The film: Here we go - another movie that climbs aboard the English football hooliganism bandwagon.  But unlike 2004's The Football Factory, this time that nasty little world is seen through  the eyes of an American interloper.

The  synopsis is a simple one: Harvard undergraduate Matt Buckner (Elijah Wood) finds refuge from a wrongful accusation of drug-dealing on campus  by joining his sister Shannon (Claire Forlani) in London. She's married to  a Brit, Steve Dunham (Marc Warren) whose brother Pete (Charlie Hunnam) heads the Green Street Elite, a firm of football thugs who attend matches pumped with booze-fuelled bravado. Violently silencing opposition team supporters  is their raison d'etre.

Although Buckner's initial ignorance of the beautiful game  - which begins with his insistence on calling it 'soccer' - and lack of fighting ability earn him the resentment of a number of the Elite, he gradually bonds with the fearsome rabble  and finds himself hooked on the thrill and danger of weekly clashes.

Unfortunately for the British viewer, the premise is let down by the inexplicable casting of a Newcastle- born actor who's spent recent years living in America as Pete. Hunnam  (Cold Mountain, 2003; Abandon, 2002)  at times gets Pete's cockney accent about as close as Dick van Dyke's chimney-sweep in Mary Poppins, minus the charm. This is jarring, to say the least, especially given that he's the leader of a crew of  actors who have the intonation spot on.

Wood also seems out of his element. His angelic features were ideally suited to  Frodo in The Lord of the Rings  series of films, but born-again thug seems a stretch.

Like The Football Factory, a serious punch-up with an arch-rival firm looms as the predictably bloody climax from  about halfway through the film. Another similarity is that, despite the trans-Atlantic ingredient, the plot and characters are one-dimensional.

This is  the third film from young German-born director Lexi Alexander and she looks to have scored an own goal after securing the services of Wood and a decent budget. On the plus side, her depiction of firm members hailing from across the class spectrum, gritty pub scenes and staccato editing show flair. She just needs to get her hands on the right material.

The extras: An entertaining interview with Wood (From Hobbit to Hooligan) sheds light on his preparation for English football culture, pub etiquette and street-fighting techniques. There's also making-of and fight-scene featurettes, and a music video for the sombre theme tune, One Blood, written and performed by actor Terence Jay, who plays Wood's roommate in the film.

The verdict: If you're not familiar with English football hooliganism you may gain some insight into this curious phenomenon, but  many  will see a passable film let down by Hunnam's dodgy cockney accent.



Green Street