Bend It Like Beckham (2006, DVD)

One of the downsides of living in the middle of nowhere (Odessa, Texas is 300 miles from any large city) is that our movie theatres don t always screen movies that are a little out of the ordinary . This category includes almost every foreign film and almost every art film. To give you an example of how backwards some of our local video people are, I once asked a clerk where the foreign films were in the video store and received the following question in reply: Farm films? I don t think we have any of those. I repeated the word foreign and her reply this time was: You mean where they speak other languages?

Anyway, it was with some excitement that I went to see Bend It Like Beckham . My son, David, who lives in Austin said the movie has been there for six months and has received critical praise. I went to an early showing today and a grand total of five other people watched it with me. That is a shame because, in my opinion, Bend It is better than the majority of the films currently running including Hulk, Charlie s Angels 2, Bad Boys 2. While this film is not as good as Seabiscuit , it is certainly worth watching.

THE PLOT

The basic plot of the movie is not too different from the plot of most sports movies. The hero or heroine of the movie desires to play some sport but it met with various obstacles such as stubborn parents, economic hardships or racial prejudice. The main character in this movie is an Eastern Indian teenage girl by the name of Jasminder (Jess is her nickname) who parents are traditional Indian parents. Neither parent (but especially her mother) want her to play soccer but Jess is a fanatic about the sport. Her room is a virtual shrine to the great English football star David Beckham and she regularly outplays the male players in pickup games in the park.

A blonde English girl names Jules notices her playing and asks her to try out for the team she plays for in an organized girl s league. She is played by the very pretty Laira Knightly. The two become best friends but Jess has to lie to her parents in order to play with the team.

Along with the soccer action, Jess s sister Pinky is getting married. In fact, the marriage is scheduled for the same day as the finals of the soccer lead. Jess also has a love interest who happens to be the coach of her team. Laira also likes the coach so complications set in. While much of the story is a comedy, there are some excellent points made about the trials and tribulations caused by gender chauvinism and racial attitudes.

THE ACTORS

I ve mentioned the two primary actors, Perminder Nagra (Jess), and Laira Knightly. The coach is played by Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Juliet Stevenson plays Laira s mother. I really don t believe that I had seen any of the actors but they did an excellent job.

WHAT I LIKED ABOUT THE FILM

Director Gurinder Chadha presented a lively and often beautiful picture of his native Indian culture. The marriage scene was unlike any I d ever seen. It reminded me of a Greek wedding only more colorful and with much more action. I also enjoyed the game footage of the soccer games although that was somewhat limited. The main strength of the movie, however, was in the development of the characters and their various conflicts. Mr. Chadha managed to present these conflicts without be preachy or overbearing. The film was thoroughly believable. I also enjoyed the music which was a combination of popular English music and Indian songs.

A SLIGHT CRITICISM

While I definitely liked the movie and recommend it, the film was fairly predictable. I don t want to spoil the movie for anyone but I know that this predictability is the norm
for sports films.

Again, if you get a chance to see this little gem, do so. I understand that it s already out on video although I personally prefer the big screen. FIVE STARS.