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Can’t get enough World Cup? Up your soccer fix with these top-scoring movies.
Bend it Like Beckham (2002)
Also the movie that made Keira Knightley a name, this British import, directed by Gurinder Chadha, gets its title from David Beckham’s ability to score kicks by “bending” the ball past defenders. “Beckham” also pins its focus on transplanted Indian culture, specifically Jesminder’s (Parminder Nagra) London-based family of Punjabi Sikhs. The girl’s relatives frown on her desire to play soccer, but when she proves herself on a women’s team, she bends their perspectives.
Ladybugs (1992)
While Jesminder bends like Beckham, the late Jonathan Brandis bends gender in “Ladybugs,” a Rodney Dangerfield comedy in which the comic legend coaches an all-girls’ soccer team, save for Brandis, who hits the field in drag. That a male player becomes the team’s star feels sexist in retrospect, but a female scores the winning goal.
Looking for Eric (2009)
There are two Erics in “Looking for Eric,” a fantasy-tinged gem about soccer as a spiritual healer. The first, Eric Bishop (Steve Evets), is a soccer nut whose life is tumbling downward, and the second, Eric Cantona, is none other than the French soccer legend, who becomes his counterpart’s guide and plays himself. Endearing moments are legion, but nothing beats the climax wherein fanatic Eric’s friends raid a foe’s home disguised in athlete Eric masks.
The Big Green (1995)
If you were a kid in the 1990s, you surely came across this Disney trifle, which answered the question every fan of “The Sandlot” had: What would Patrick Renna, the boy who embodied Hamilton “Ham” Porter, do next? Playing the titular team’s goalie, Renna must overcome fears of monsters to score big. (Fun fact: The actor’s now a Scientologist.)
Invictus (2009)
OK — we’re cheating a little. Clint Eastwood’s “Invictus” isn’t technically about soccer; it’s about rugby. But juxtaposed against the many things the director gets wrong with this pseudo Nelson Mandela (Morgan Freeman) biopic is the riveting depiction of sports, both as a source of gargantuan action and a means to unite a country. And this is the World Cup we’re talking about — just the 1995 Rugby World Cup.
Contact the South Philly Review at editor@southphillyreview.com.
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