The Damned United follows the dramatic career of the effervescent, charming, and downright infuriating English soccer coach Brian Clough through his tenure at Derby F.C. and then powerhouse soccer club Leeds United (or the titular damned). Well, actually, the film fashions the dramatic career of Clough. The film is actually an adaptation of a dramatization, if that gives a hint. Let me first say that I’m all for artistic license. It’s up there with liquor, drivers’, and guns’ as far as licenses go. But if you’re looking for any vestige of truth within the film, stop reading. If not, let’s proceed.
It came as no surprise to me that the same director behind The King’s Speech, Tom Hooper, was responsible for The Damned United. At their core, they’re both films contingent on the powerful performances of their ensemble. And neither, in any way, disappoints. Michael Sheen of 30 Rock and Frost/Nixon fame plays Clough to complete, ideal perfection. He bounces from one scene to another with persistent charm like any ball on a pass-happy club, strategically constructing a subtly exuberant persona that demands one’s attention whether they like it or not. Timothy Spall (Peter Pettigrew from the Harry Potter series and Churchill in The King’s Speech) plays the counterpoint to Clough’s madness as his calculating but lovable assistant. The combination of the two drives the film at a quick pace as it jumps from the present, to the past, back to the present, and back again in its construction of the tempestuous history of not only Clough, but English soccer as a whole. Hooper’s expert direction and attention to character reinforces his proclivity towards personality, an illuminative precursor to the highly recommended King’s Speech. So if you enjoy soccer (or football, as the colonizers call it) or a magnificent character study, The Damned United not only satiates, but fascinates.
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