Arianna Moses
Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.
Angelus2
An elderly white couple, adopt a child from Jamaica and raise him up during the 70's...I chronicles his life from being racially attacked... to actually attacking people for his beloved football team.The character of Cass is a man who blindingly loves his country and must face prosecution from others and constantly told he does not belong...I loved his rise, and the respect he accumulates from people.I found the prison part to be very fascinating as another Jamiacan British cell mate tells him about why he should care for his roots, and Cass's place in the world.The fight scenes were brilliantly shot and show Great Britain's hard men...We are not all like Hugh Grant..LOL..A good solid film with a great cast of actors..
tonynature-1
judging by the comments left by men wanting to see an accurately depicted film on footie thuggery this is not a decent hooligan flick.I am not sure what the attraction is behind hooliganism, I mean don't get me wrong i profess to be no angel. I am a 34yr old working class south londoner who has had (in my day of course) many a stupidly drunken night and day which have occasionally led to tear ups resulting in victory and defeat, but packs of tooled up geezer's week after week year after year to then turn around and claim to be some national violence hierarchy! nah mate i ain't 'avin it. what was/is truly remarkable about this is 1 solitary black mans possibly god given path to stay and keep his head way above the water against any off the odds and become not only a player but ranked elitely among the top dogs if not the top. I for most of my childhood grew not too far from Cass's home town and were subject to similar experience's but had the sanctity of a home to which I culturally belonged. coincidentally I have also known Nonso in my past and I am truly proud at his portrayal of the man. as for Elaine (Cass's wife) not knowing a damned thing about the man's better half I felt that Natalie Press was not wooden or poor but actually quite sweet and find that viewers and critics alike expect Hollywood stellar performances far too often from actors portraying sweet n simple everyday fault filled folk. sadly (or maybe not so sadly) the budget was low so the film was kept gritty and simple as was working class Britain back then but the sentiment was high. a simple but great "1 man against the world and winning" story.
nwestwood1
Recently I couldn't get into any performance of The Dark Knight, so myself and my mate looked for an alternative. I should gone home and watched Eastenders this boring pretentious mockney nonsense, barely kept me awake . The main character (the first black hooligan) was about is menacing as the Hofmeister Bear. Unlike the cruely underrated Rise Of The Footsoldier which was slated to pieces. This film was a winded pretentious biopic of somebody nobody cares about. The acting was dreadful, especially the person who plays Cass's wife,hearing her winy nicotine voice was the equalvent of hearing a blackboard being scratched!! Why was this given a 18 certificate ?
davideo-2
STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning A film highlighting the true story of Cass Pennant (Nonso Anozie) a baby born to a Jamaican mother who was raised by a white working class couple who's doorstep he landed on. The film charts his youth getting his first taste of football violence in it's heyday of the early 70s, through to a decade later when he was leading London's top firm The ICF (Inter City Firm) into battle, which ended up getting him a lengthy spell in jail. He came out and tried to turn his life around, getting into the nightclub doorman business, but his past caught up with him and after an attempt on his life, he turned his back on his old life for good, and is now respected as a renowned author.After the true life story of Carlton Leach was documented in the woeful misfire Rise of the Foot Soldier, Cass arrives trying to do the same thing with (black) ICF leader Pennant. "The Football Factory meets This is England" a praise caption (for want of better phrasing) proclaimed when I first saw the poster for this. Okay, already I was thinking 80s Britain, Thatcher, hooliganism, a bit grim. I wasn't disappointed in this respect, but in others Cass did disappoint me quite badly.For a film that's ended up on the big screen, the film looks remarkably cheap, like it's more suited as a TV film than here. Up until the end, for some reason director Jon S Baird has shot his film in a grainy, blurry style that you can't help but notice. Maybe this was to help give off a feel of how bleak and grim life in England during the 70s and 80s was, but it didn't come off as too subtle with me. The use of stock footage from old news reels showing the football violence also didn't help in this respect. But aside from this, the film goes to great pains to dramatize Cass's life story veering away from any exciting football action, but rather than involve us in the end the film has come off more as dull and boring unfortunately.The film benefits from an undeniably fine lead performance from Anozie as the titular character, an articulate thug with a lot of pent up anger in him but who also has an intelligent side that comes to be his guiding light. He does try and justify his actions at points by blaming them on Thatcher, as when talking about his clashes with police at games, saying 'they were her army versus ours' without realizing no matter heavy handed they might have been, they were trying to stop violence rather than cause it. Nathalie Press as the girl who becomes his wife tries hard but her voice is rather annoying and grating and this put me off a bit. Leo Gregory, who was also in Green Street, is good in a supporting role as Cass's mate. Tamer Hassan does his usual glaring, quietly menacing hardman act and Dennis Pennis himself Paul Kaye also does well as the man behind Cass's shooting. Performances wise, there's really nothing wrong with the film, it's in other areas it lets itself down.The distributors picked a stupid time to release it, as it really didn't stand a chance at this time of year, up against bigger films like The Dark Knight, the new X-Files film and The Love Guru. I remember seeing a little feature on it on the news, which now makes me think it was just desperate for any publicity it could get. It had about one showing time when I went to see it, but the theatre was packed and it seems to have had a stay of execution for this week too, so maybe it'll do better than it seemed.It's not awful by any means, with some strong performances and an interesting story, that sadly came off as dull rather than how it should have. **
