Green Street Hooligans (Lexi Alexander, 2005): USA
Reviewed by Jagpal Johl. Viewed on DVD.
Green Street Hooligans is a 2005 independent crime drama film that was distributed by Baker Street Productions. Greet Street Hooligans was directed by Lexi Alexander who also took part in the writing of the story along with Dougie Brimson. Greet Street Hooligans stars Lord of the Rings star Elijah Woods, along with Sons of Anarchy star Charlie Hunnam. Greet Street Hooligans is the story of an American college student and his run with a violent football firm. Green Street Hooligans was filmed in various locations across the UK.
Green Street Hooligans follows Matt Buckner (Elijah Woods), who after being unfairly expelled from Harvard for his roommate’s drugs, travels to Britain to visit his sister. Upon arriving in Britain, Matt meets his brother-in-law’s brother Pete Dunham (Charlie Hunnam), who takes Matt to hang out with his gang at the pub before they go to watch the match. After a rocky start, Pete begins to accept Matt as the two begin to become very good friends. Matt begins to get sucked into the life of the firm as he begins to accept violence as an everyday part of his life. Although everyone in the firm likes Matt, Pete’s best friend Bower (Leo Gregory) does not accept him and has much animosity towards Matt. As the story progresses, the firm learns the truth about Matt studying journalism, and believes that he is an undercover journalist. After Pete does not accept it, Bower leaves to go find hated rival firm leader Tommy Hatcher. They team up to go and attack the Major. Tommy and his firm cross Bower and start to burn down the pub and stab the Major. Pete becomes enraged and tells Bower that he does not need him. The film ends with one major fight between the rival firms that everyone will remember for the rest of their lives.
The film depicts its version of actual football firms that exist throughout the world. The film is also very similar to the movie Football Factory which also tells the story of a football firm, but instead shows more criminal activity besides violence. The theme of the film is that sometimes you must stand your ground and fight no matter the cost, but sometimes you should walk away because the consequences are not worth it. The film follows the classic Hollywood narrative style. The film shows us how anyone can be sucked into another lifestyle when trying to escape the problems of his or her life.
I believe that Green Street Hooligans is a great film, and despite the fact of a low budget, it did an excellent job using the plot to tell the story. I believe that this film shows the creativeness of the film industry. The film is worth every cent that I paid to buy this movie. This film can appeal to a wide variety of adult audiences. The motivation of the film is more of a realistic type.
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