Bend it Like Beckham film review

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BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM

Lest we forget, the World Cup looms large on the horizon. However, there is one reason to celebrate football coming home: Bend It Like Beckham.

Gurinder Chadha's unabashedly feelgood comedy is a hugely entertaining mix of East Is East and Billy Elliot, about a young woman striving to realise her dreams on and off the soccer pitch.

Eighteen-year-old Jess Bhamra (Parminder Nagra) is a hard-working Indian girl with one abiding passion: David Beckham. More than anything, she wants to join her idol on the football pitch, but her parents will never accept a football player for a daughter. So Jess is forced to hide her passion from her loved ones, even her sister Pinky, who is about to be married to her long-term boyfriend Teetu.

Jess is offered a chance to realize her dreams when she is asked to play for Hounslow Harriers women's football team, coached by former pro player Joe (Jonathan Rhys Meyers). She jumps at the opportunity, donning her studs every week behind her parent's back, and fostering a firm friendship with striker Jules Paxton (Keira Knightley).

However, when Mr and Mrs Bhamra discover their daughter's deception, they forbid her from walking onto the pitch ever again, and Jess must choose between her family and her happiness.

The young leads are fantastic, particularly newcomer Nagra who makes us fall in love with plucky Jess from the get-go. Rhys Meyers is easy on the eye, but Shaheen Khan and Juliet Stevenson steal the movie as the girl's no-nonsense mothers.

They are gifted all of the best lines, whether it be Mrs Bhamra extolling the virtues of a well made chapatti, or Mrs Paxton warning, "There's a reason why Sporty Spice is the only one without a fella!"

The script scores countless belly laughs, laced with tears for the rousing finale.

Quite possibly the best British film of the year.