Shearer! Shearer! Our heroes Gerry and Sewell (Beattie and McLane) come face to face with their hero...
Gerry and Sewell (Beattie and McLane) are inseparable friends. In their late-teens, they've abandoned school for their obsession with Newcastle United, their local football team, and they've decided to do whatever it takes to get season tickets ... and a purely belter day in the stadium. But it's not very easy for a couple of uneducated no-hopers, and they move through plan after desperate plan until their silly criminal activities get just a bit more serious thank child's play.
The film has a warm-hearted feel to it that makes it bearable, but underneath it all, this is trite, condescending cinema from the get go. Gerry and Sewell are basically Laurel and Hardy--smart/stupid, little/big, on a hopeless quest and going through scenarios that provide grounds for comedy, slapstick and a bit of romance or drama. Herman's writing and direction are uneven at best; Beattie and McLane are not very good, even though they do have screen presence, which helps make a few key scenes meaningful and somewhat funny and/or moving. But the other characters never come to life at all--theyr'e mere stereotypes (Hardwick's battered mum, Whately's gruff teacher, Christiansen's junkie sister, Healy's brutal dad, Hudd's too-stupid-to-live grandfather, etc). And the story is from outer space, full of improbabilities, inconsistencies and contrivances. It'll probably do OK box-office wise, since it is a crowd pleaser. But that doesn't make it any better.
[15--themes, language, some violence] 23.Oct.00
UK release 27.Oct.00
