Bend It Like Beckham

A pleasant surprise, BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM is a film about cultural progressiveness and assimilation. Also, soccer. Taking place in London, Jess (Parminder Nagra), the daughter of ultra-old-school Indian parents, attempts to break her parents down into allowing her play soccer. She's sort of a tomboy, playing with her friends in the parks and beating them all. One day at the park, she's spotted by Jules (Keira Knightley) who plays on a women's soccer team. Jules approaches Jess inviting her to come along to tryouts, and soon enough Jess' talents are discovered the by teams coach, Joe (Jonathan Rhys Meyers). There's a lot of little subplots that fester around, but mostly the film follows a pleasant relationship between Jess and Jules and how Jess' parents eventually succumb to their daughters wishes. It's basically a feel-good film, and it sure does have its problems: like the title which puts a silly emphasis on a soccer-star who isn't even part of most of the movie, and the length: which draws out many events to unbearably teasing lengths. Despite all that though, the intentions of the film are really genial, and, like CIRCUMSTANCE, shows how the children of old-school people eventually bring them towards the future. It's a more hopeful approach, and is handled in an appealing manner. Unfortunately, it's mired with jarring contrasts between breezy scenes and then the fact that there are a million breezy scenes all mostly about the same thing. Still good, still fun.

★★★