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Bend It Like Beckham is about Jess, a British teenager. Jess’ big dream is to play professional soccer. On Jess’ bedroom wall is a giant poster of British soccer idol David Beckham. With lightning-quick feet and fierce determination, there is only one thing that could prevent Jess from one day becoming a soccer legend like Beckham.
Jess, short for Jesminder, is a girl.
If the gender thing isn’t a tough enough obstacle, Jess (Parminder Nagra) has an even bigger problem: her Indian-born parents. In their minds, anything that does not lead to Jess marrying a nice Indian boy and making cute little Indian babies — after finishing college, of course — is a waste of time. When they find out Jess is on a woman’s amateur soccer team, they are not pleased. She should be home learning to cook chapati like her sister Pinky (Archie Panjabi).
Fox Searchlight, the American distributor for Bend It Like Beckham, is crossing its fingers and hoping its baby will be this year’s My Big Fat Greek Wedding. Translated, a big, fat crossover success from art-house obscurity to wide release.
If quality is any gauge of the movie’s potential, it has a good chance. It’s tremendously hip, intelligent and quite funny. Another similarity to My Big Fat Greek Wedding is that both movies deal with the immigrant experience from the viewpoint of the younger generation. In fact, one advantage Beckham has over Greek Wedding is that Jess’ family members are treated more like three-dimensional characters than stereotypes. Jess’ father does not own a convenience store. In fact, he is an airline pilot. And Pinky is a modern girl who’s happy shopping for shoes with her buddies.
But I didn’t like Bend It Like Beckham because it’s politically correct. I liked it because it’s one fiercely charming, fun movie. The acting is very good. The screenplay is very well-written, with equally distributed bits of comedy and pathos. It doesn’t go for easy laughs as much as Greek Wedding. When it does, the humor works so much better.
The fair treatment of the parents was also appealing. Not since the John Hughes films of the 1980s have parents been treated as complete human beings in a movie geared toward young people. Not to say that they aren’t funny and don’t do dumb things, but they’re also portrayed as caring if somewhat flawed individuals who only want the best for their kids.
I don’t mind if movies arrive with high expectations as long as they deliver the goods. Bend It Like Beckham gets the ball in the goal, and then some.
Bend It Like Beckham
PG-13
Opening at Ritz theaters tomorrow
Three-and-a-half reels out of four
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
PG
Available April 11
This is the movie that Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone should have been. It’s funny and irreverent but, more importantly, it’s also quite magical. I’m talking movie magic, not wizard-and-witch stuff. Of course, it has plenty of that, too, but this one is much more fun and will fill viewers of all ages with a sense of wonder. Harry is visited by a strange but benign creature who warns him not to go back to Hogwarts school. When Harry does return for his second year, many strange things occur. What’s even worse is that his classmates think he may be the cause. As in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, the acting is outstanding.
