Football Factory

Starring: Michael Caine, Brendan Fraser, Do Thi Hai Yen

Reviewed by David Hill

You bastard!“, a reporter is knocked out and so begins The Football Factory. Don't be fooled by the title; this is not a football film - it's a hardcore, behind-the-scenes look at English football firms (supporter gangs). Based on the John King novel, the film follows the trials and tragedies of Tommy Johnson, a member of the Chelsea Firm.

During the week, Tommy works in a plant nursery, then spends his time hangin' with his mates, drinking beer, taking drugs and most of all living for the weekend. The weekend is when the Firm searches for what they really want: violence. It's violence that provides the members of the firm with a high and a vent from the frustrations of their daily lives.

The story centres on the upcoming F.A cup match between Tommy's Chelsea and the team of their biggest gang rivals, Millwall. The Chelsea and Millwall firms are well known as two of the biggest groups of hooligans in England. And this particular ‘fixture' is given extra impetus by some inter-gang girl trouble. Both are eager to prove who is the better firm – that's the one that causes the most injuries.

Early in the film, Tommy begins to have doubts about why he's in the Firm. This internal conflict continues throughout the film with Tommy having paranoid visions and dreams. These indicate, to the viewer at least, that he should give up the violence game.

An ex-Chelsea firm member and an army veteran both urge Tommy to give up Firm life because they believe he is too smart to be involved in the business of hurting people. Does Tommy listen to himself and the advice he is given? Well, while watching this film, you can't help but hope so. But there isn't much about Tommy to indicate, from the choices he makes throughout the film, that he is in fact, intelligent.

Billy is also a central figure in this story. He is, what a lot of people fear – a man without fear. He thinks nothing of challenging a group of hooligans to a fight when he is clearly outnumbered. He is a role model that Tommy should keep away from rather than befriend.

Billy is also a character you can't help but like and I found myself asking why. He is clearly crazy and loves the violence. In one scene he is shown as a small fat boy, always picked on by the “cool kids”. One day, he decides that enough is enough and turns the tables on the bullies. He's still angry with the world, has been for 30 years, and wants everyone to pay.

One reason for liking Billy is his intense hatred of Zebedee, a fellow gang member and clearly a loathsome figure. Billy would like nothing more than to beat Zebedee to a pulp. However, he is unable to do so because of Zebedee's relationship with Harris (the leader of the Firm). Billy has known Harris for a long time and seems to be the only person Billy respects and listens to.

Despite being the leader of the Firm, Harris, does not play a major role but his contribution is still important. It is he who engineers the member's weekends of violence, and controls Billy when you think he is about to go off.

You can't see this film without being surprised at the quantity of drugs done, with cocaine the Firm's drug of choice. The drug is regularly used by firm members to get pumped up before a rumble and drugs and beer constitute their main diet.

This film is not for everyone. It's not exactly Harry Potter. It's set in a male-dominated world where the characters find violence a release from the stresses, problems and disappointments of their humdrum daily lives. There are no major stars involved and this heightens the feeling you're watching a documentary.

You might also be shocked by the violence. But you may also find yourself unable to turn away and at times hoping that the Firm is victorious. The characters are not people you would like to have as friends but you are drawn to them by an understanding of why they are like they are and why they do what they do.

The language is rough and typically London working class. This gives the film a further sense of reality. However, if you're not English or you don't have a good knowledge of English slang, you may have trouble understanding at times.

So, should you see this film? Well, yes, if you can look past the violence and understand what the film is trying to do: take a hard-hitting look at the realty of life within the English working class.

I give the film three and a half glasses of beer from a five-glass pitcher.