2002

March 16, 2003
Camera 7
UK / Germany
English / Hindi / Punjabi
112 minutes

Who Wants To Cook Aloo Gobi When You Can Bend A Ball Like Beckham -- BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM.

The crowd-pleasing film of the year. When you hear a critic say "This Year's My Big Fat Greek Wedding" they couldn't be more right on. In no way does that mean it's great. It has nothing to offend anyone, has a good message, and everything works out exactly as you think it will at the end. I must say it was more entertaining to me than MBFGWedding. An Indian girl living in London wants to play soccer. Her hero is David Beckham, England's greatest soccer player. The title refers to his skill at kicking a free kick over the line of defenders and having it curve just enough to go under the cross-bar of the goal. Her traditional parents forbid her to wear shorts, never mind play sports in front of men. But she is good and she secretly joins the team. The typical funny stuff happens when she is seen hugging what appears to be a white boy at a bus stop, when people find out about her passion, when she falls for the hunky coach. We've seen all of it before, but the lead actress makes it all okay. Plus it has a message of girl power that the Spice Girls could only hint at. This is a winner and I saw it in an entirely fully theater. The kids loved it, the parents loved it. It was fun.