Bend It Like Beckham
Sometimes, to follow your dreams.... you've got to bend the rules!
Sometimes, to follow your dreams... you've got to bend the rules! Audiences and critics alike are cheering wildly for this "exhilarating... terrific comedy" (Entertainment Weekly) about a young girl who is torn between adhering to family traditions and attaining super-stardom on the soccer field. Hailed as the year's must-see crowd pleaser that "makes you feel good and laugh out loud" (Chicago Sun-Times), Bend it Like Beckham scores! (Time Magazine).
Member Reviews
great little movie - outlander78
This movie blends sports, romance comedy, a coming of age story, the challenges of a modern multicultural society, generational issues increased by emmigration, and a lot of comedy and warmth into a great film. This is not a Bollywood-style film (no singing, dancing or random scenery changes), but shows a lot of Bollywood influences otherwise. If you haven't seen it, at least rent it.Be true to one's gifts - judith_in_ottawa
I liked this movie a lot. I really enjoyed the two girl's families in the film, both the Sikh family, deeply embedded in ex-pat Sikh culture, and the white family. Both families are shown sympathetically, caring and foibles and all, and both girls try to find their way to their dream without leaving their families behind.
I have no interest at all in soccer, but discovering how to be true to one's gifts while both keeping and stepping beyond one's culture, now that interests me. The film was funny and honest, and I recommend it.Gooooaaaalllllll! - SPSullivan
Those who saw and enjoyed "Billy Elliot" should run, not walk, to their nearest theatre and check out "Bend It Like Beckham" (kicking around a football in the process is optional). The two movies are thematic siblings, both dealing with cultural pressures which hamper the ability of their respective main characters to pursue their dreams. In both cases, that dream involves an activity which the close-minded would view as gender-bending -- ballet for Billy, football for "Bend It Like Beckham"'s Jess. Here, though, director Chadha has taken things one step further: not only is Jess denied football because she's a girl, but also because she has the entire weight of her Indian heritage bearing down on her. Yet the other thing "Beckham" shares with "Billy" is that it handles its subject matter with generous dollops of humour, and you don't have to be a Brit of Indian descent to join in the laughter. Much of the credit goes to Nagra, who has crafted in Jess a terrifically engaging yet believably flawed character. The other characters don't quite match up, but there are valiant contributions by several of the performers, most notably Frank Harper and Juliet Stevenson as Jules' parents. The film does overstay its welcome slightly -- there's about one Jess-sneaks-off-gets-caught routine too many -- but overall "Bend It Like Beckham" is a charmer.
Member Reviews
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great little movie - outlander78
This movie blends sports, romance comedy, a coming of age story, the challenges of a modern multicultural society, generational issues increased by emmigration, and a lot of comedy and warmth into a great film. This is not a Bollywood-style film (no singing, ...Be true to one's gifts - judith_in_ottawa
I liked this movie a lot. I really enjoyed the two girl's families in the film, both the Sikh family, deeply embedded in ex-pat Sikh culture, and the white family. Both families are shown sympathetically, caring and foibles and all, and both girls try to ...Gooooaaaalllllll! - SPSullivan
Those who saw and enjoyed "Billy Elliot" should run, not walk, to their nearest theatre and check out "Bend It Like Beckham" (kicking around a football in the process is optional). The two movies are thematic siblings, both dealing with cultural pressures ...