Three quarters of a gritty north-country drama, this goes doolally in the last two reels, with Sean Bean going on as substitute for Sheffield United in the FA Cup semi-final (shouldn't this be on a neutral ground? ) and scoring two goals against Manchester United: just a touch of wish fulfilment here. You have to have some knowledge of English football to realise how far-fetched this all is, but the majority of the movie speaks more eloquently - about wasted lives and missed chances. Bean is a twentysomething brewery worker who has always wanted to make football his career but has been held back by uncaring teachers and a shiftless father. When he meets feisty accounts clerk Emily Lloyd, his life begins to take shape - though it's a pity Lloyd never does once she gets pregnant. Neither are we convinced of Bean blowing his football trial by bedding a stripper the night before. For all that, he and Lloyd are both very good before the script deserts them.

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