BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM
5 out of 5 stars

now that WORLD CUP fever is upon us… i’ve decided to review some soccer movies to alleviate this fever! :P



this one is a classic, and a few of my friends were actually surprised i haven’t seen this. “OMG, it’s soooo good” and “i can’t believe you of all people haven’t seen this” were my reactions at first. well, i listened, made it my #1 on my netflix queue, and voila! I LOVED IT. not only is this movie about playing soccer and loving the game of futbol, but it’s also got tons of cultural references and lots of good humor. if you don’t know it already—jesminder bharma is a punjabi brit, living in london, with a passion for football and david beckham, her hero. she longs to play professionally, so when jules (keira knightly- she’s come a long way from this…) finds her kicking asses with her skills in a park, jules asks her to be on her soccer team. at first, even the coach joe (jonathan rhys meyers- HOT HOT HOT and totally unexpected!) is reluctant of accepting her on the team, but when they see this little punjabi girl bend that ball… everyone falls in love with her. of course, there’s love, heartbreak, friendship, and even an indian wedding! (probably the best part in the entire movie- makes me want to watch a bollywood flick next… hmm…)


i think the best parts of this movie is how we get a glimpse of punjabi culture and ideals through the eyes of this teenage girl and also through the eyes of her family members. jess’s parents are WAY overprotective of her (for “good” reason- you’ll see why…), and it’s heartbreaking to watch jess balance her passion for soccer with the ideals of how a “proper” punjabi girl should act. it’s also interesting to see jules face a similar situation with her parents, who come to the conclusion that she might be a lesbian. (watch out for the actress who plays her mother who is HILARIOUS!) the misunderstandings and misconceptions are priceless in this film, and the dialogue itself is very well written! i love the scene where the sari dressmaker is like “don’t worry… we’ll turn these little mosquito bites into juicy mangoes with our gowns” LOL! :P