Green Street

A film about football hooliganism starring Elijah Wood, it’s hard not to think of Green Street as some 21st century equivalent of a 1960s quota quickie, the kind of British B-movie which would invariably have been directed by a journeyman such as Lance Comfort and feature a token American lead as means of securing an audience. In this case, however, it happens to be an Anglo-American co-production and it’s the US side of the equation who are pulling all of the strings. Jon Favreau is listed amongst the executives, whilst this particularly English brand of thuggery is rendered glossier than usual and treated to a ’scope frame. Put these together and you have a film which isn’t really about hooliganism at all in any concrete, realistic terms. Rather we the touristic version, one with an eye on US audiences as opposed to those in the UK.

Unsurprisingly then Green Street starts out in America. Wood is expelled from Harvard despite being innocent (he’s taken the rap for a wealthy roommate with a coke problem) and so hops on a plane to se his sister, played by Claire Forlani, over in London. Courtesy of some simple twists of fate her brother-in-law (Charlie Hunman) happed to a run of firm of hooligans, the Green Street Elite, and soon enough Wood is immersed in the world of kicking off before and after kick off.

The presence of Wood allows Green Street to take an outsider look at this culture and it certainly seems strange to more local eyes. Everyone’s a cockney, whether they’re from Manchester or Birmingham, and generally a comic book villain; the Millennium Dome takes prominence in the frame as an aid to slower viewers unsure as to where Wood is; and it all takes on a near-Dickensian air. “You never ’eard of firm?” asks Hunman of our lead early on in his finest bastardisation of the English language, whilst later on a rival Millwall supporter declares “You’re gonna get it naaah you little yank!” It’s all a bit too comic book for its own good, a fact not helped by the film’s regurgitation of every popular myth with regards to football violence: the ‘Chelsea smile’ gets a name check early on; the various brawls are nothing more than a hyperkinetic blur of blood and Burberry.

If we choose to accept Green Street on this level then it is possible to get caught up in its overall enthusiasm and energy. (And no doubt it’ll find a post-pub audience courtesy of this very fact.) Yet importantly, there’s no understanding of the culture nor any nods towards a bigger picture (in stark contrast to Alan Clarke’s The Firm, Phil Davis’ I.D. or even more recent Nick Love’s The Football Factory). The scene in which the firm walk bloodied and in slow-motion to the Stone Roses’ ‘I Wanna Be Adored’ says it all: Green Street is nothing more than pure glorification. There’s no moral ambivalence, no discussion of macho culture à la Fight Club. Rather we’re shown our leads off-duty as it were, holding down day jobs as P.E. teachers and airline pilots, or being polite to women on the underground, and this supposedly is enough. Going by the trailer’s tagline of “Honor, Love and Loyalty” it would appear that Hunman, Wood, et al are all essentially good people save for the little detail of them hospitalising a few rival supporters every time West Ham have a match.

Perhaps oddest of all, however, is the fact that none of this is remotely affecting. Green Street is ultimately so removed from real life and so chock full of fantasy and contrivance that we forget to be offended. Indeed, even the seemingly primary concern as to whether or not Wood would convince as a common thug never raises its head simply because our attentions are drawn elsewhere. The screenplay is over-burdened with ridiculous developments (firms’ histories are whittled down to the simplest of rivalries and revenge tales) that we never even get this far. All told we’re dealing with a film as removed as preposterous as When Saturday Comes (which starred another fellowship member, Sean Bean), the only difference with that flick being that it focussed on the activities occurring on the pitch.

The Disc

A new release by a major label, in this case Universal, it’s no surprise to learn that Green Street comes with a fine presentation. The film comes in its original aspect ratio, anamorphically enhanced and taken from a flawless, damage-free print. Indeed, there really are no problems to speak of – the clarity is there, the glossy edge remains, and any technical problems are seemingly non-existent. Much the same is also true of the soundtrack. Here we find the original DD5.1 sound mix and it sounds little short of superb. Dialogue is crisp and clear, the various Britpop tunage comes across without problem and once again there are no technical problems to discern.

In terms of extras, however, the disc is something of a disappointment. We find a brief ‘making of’ which bulks out the theatrical trailer with puff piece interview snippets, a music video for Terence Jay’s hideously mawkish ‘One Blood’, a pair of trailers allowing us to compare the US and UK ad campaigns and a trio of more focussed featurettes. The first, with the wonderful title of ‘From Hobbit to Hooligan’ discussed Wood’s reasons for choosing this film; the second, ‘Standing Your Ground’ attempts some analysis of hooligan culture but comes up with nothing more than some cod-psychology about absent fathers; and the third focuses on female director Lexi Alexander. It’s a demonstration of its depth that the most interesting thing we discover about the film’s making is the fact that she was twice a world kickboxing champion!