Shooting For Socrates
When Irish eyes were smiling...
British cinema has usually laboured when trying to produce films about football. From When Saturday Comes to the Goal trilogy, most movies on The Beautiful Game are about as appealing as an early bath. So it’s heartening to see James Erskine’s comedy-drama Shooting For Socrates, a film as satisfying as scoring a 30-yard screamer. It’s a David and Goliath tale, as Northern Ireland manager Billy Bingham keeps reminding the press corps.
Dramatising the run-up to the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, when Northern Ireland’s minnows qualified from a difficult group, Shooting For Socrates then takes us into the tournament itself, as the team plays its three group games against Algeria, Spain and world-beaters Brazil, then captained by the mighty Socrates de Souza.
Director Erskine has made his name shooting acclaimed sports docs – including Italia ’90 story One Night In Turin and the 1981 England-Australia cricket showdown From The Ashes. As in those films, Erskine provides acres of social and political context, paying heed to the divisions and destruction that ruled bomb-torn Belfast at the time.
Touchingly, part of the story is seen through the eyes of a young footie-mad lad, Tommy (Art Parkinson) from East Belfast, but it’s the moments abroad that really engage. John Hannah is excellent as the grouchy Bingham, and Conleth Hill provides fine comic relief as Jackie Fullerton, the boozy sports reporter who stays with the lads throughout the cup.
The period details feel just right – to the point where it’s difficult to tell if Erskine used real match footage or recreated the games. Yes, it’s sentimental but never overly so. This is one football film that just about gets it right.
THE VERDICT Cunningly made, wellperformed and surprisingly effective, Shooting For Socrates scores in every department. In the words of Alan Partridge, this film’s got football pie all over its shirt.
› Certificate PG Director James Erskine Starring John Hannah, Richard Dormer, Conleth Hill, Art Parkinson, Barry Ward Screenplay James Erskine, Marie Jones Distributor Soda Pictures Running time 91 mins