Why you can trust 12DOVE
Given the dismal display of Sven’s former team this summer, this comic throwback to Sir Alf’s glorious triumph of 40 years ago can’t help but sound a hollow note. Football, though, is only the backdrop for a gentle rites-of-passage story about a nervy Jewish lad (Gregg Sulkin) from north London, dismayed to discover his much-cherished Bar Mitzvah clashes with a certain Cup game.
Shot in rosy hues by director Paul Weiland, this nostalgic tale of crushed innocence ploughs a well-worn furrow, 2003’s cricket-based Wondrous Oblivion being perhaps the closest team-mate. Even for the non-football fan, the snippets of colour footage from England’s Germany-beating performance will feel distressingly brief. But a strong sense of period and a game cast led by Eddie Marsan and Helena Bonham Carter keep the action flowing and squeeze a narrow victory from lower-league material.
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