The Damned United Michael Sheen, Timothy Spall, Colm Meaney, Jim Broadbent Director: Tom Hooper
David Peace's best-selling novel, on which this film is based, worked so well because the author imagined what was going on inside the head of football manager Brian Clough during his ill-fated 44 days in charge of then English champions Leeds United in 1974. It left readers thinking they knew how he felt.
What surprises is that while director Tom Hooper dispenses with almost all of that darkness for his film, it in no way lessens The Damned United. Hooper effortlessly recreates the vibe of English football in the 1970s - and his cast provides wonderful renderings of real people, with Michael Sheen (above, second from right) nailing Clough's every cocksure smile and Timothy Spall capturing your heart as his faithful sidekick Peter Taylor.
It's both frantic and fascinating - as football itself should be - and Hooper immerses his characters in the sort of scruffy squalor that typified life in the north in the 70s.
If you're a Leeds United fan, you might leave unhappy with the portrayal of ex-Leeds manager Don Revie and in particular with the portrayal of his players as a bunch of snarling thugs.
Extras: Commentary with Hooper, Sheen and the film's producer Andy Harries; featurettes including Pitch Perfect: The Making of The Damned United, Creating Clough: Michael Sheen Takes on Ol' Big 'Ead, Remembering Brian: Friends and Players Reminisce, The Changing Game: Football in the Seventies; deleted scenes (with commentary).
