Mark Kermode, Observer film critic 

United We Fall review – football comedy that deserves a kicking

This spoof Man United documentary was shot in six days and it shows, writes Mark Kermode
  
  

United We Fall, films
Jack Donnelly in the ‘ill-judged’ United We Fall. Photograph: PR

Being a fan of neither football nor sloppily improvised comedy (give me a good script any day), I am hardly the target market for this on-the-hoof footie spoof. And with the exception of a comically Teutonic turn from Jonathan Broke as Manchester United’s German goalie Kurt “Kurtzie” Kurtz, I found this parodic sports doc (or “sportsumentary”, if you will) very hard going indeed. The press notes attest that the ballsy microbudget production (inspired by The Class of ’92) was entirely shot in six days, and, frankly, I see no reason to disbelieve that claim. If only the end results, which take broad and often ill-judged swipes at race, gender and sexuality, were better. On the plus side, it did have me eagerly awaiting the arrival of Mike Bassett: Interim Manager, the Kickstarter-assisted sequel to Steve Barron’s Mike Bassett: England Manager, which showed how this stuff could/should be done.

 

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