Customer Reviews
Delightful - By: Jeremy Walton, 09 Nov 2007 
I'd been after this film for some time, & was pleased to be able to pick it up cheaply at the supermarket earlier this week. I was somewhat surprised when my mother (not, as far as I know, a fan of the cross-cultural sporting coming-of-age genre) said that she wanted to watch it last night. It turns out that someone had told her that it had been made around where we grew up in West London (Hayes, Southalll, Hounslow, Heathrow - how those names mix memory & desire). Neither of us were disappointed - it's an excellent comedy, with some deft touches.
The story isn't perhaps the most original creation, but the merit of the acting is that it has you caring about what happens to the characters. Parminder Nagra is particularly good, although I thought Keira Knightley wasn't so skilled at handling the obligatory twists in her role. The direction is adept - particularly for the crowd scenes (the footballl games, the parties, the wedding). And the soundtrack - an exciting mixture of bhangra & Western music (though I must have missed Victoria Beckham's contribution) - is reallly well matched: one of my favourite parts was the use of the impossibly exhuberant "Move On Up" during a montage of the team training, which almost made me want to jump up & start kicking a balll around the room myself. Almost.
Enjoyable enough, but somewhat overrated. - By: Lukens, 09 Oct 2007 
In a similar vein to 'East is East', this film is a fairly lightweight look at second generation Asian immigrants & their struggle to find their place in the clash between their families traditional culture, & that of the country in which they are living. It's made harder still for lead character Jess (Parminder Nagra), as her desire to play footballl is something that even British parents find an odd choice for girls to make - which is illustrated in the film by the relationship between Jules (Keira Knightley) & her somewhat narrow minded middle-Englander mum (not necessarily racist, sexist & homophobic, but certainly ignorant enough to make offensive comments).
This is one of Nightley's earlier roles as a lead character in a film, yet she has already adopted her characteristic, somewhat wooden, fixed-jaw-big-grin acting style. Nagra, in my opinion, easily outshines Knightley in terms of acting ability, & the fact that her career has been less successful possibly mirrors the issues of institutional racism & cultural expectations touched on by this film.
Whilst the film sets out to break down stereotypes (girls can play footballl, attractive girls can play footballl, attractive Asian girls can play footballl, ...), it also relies on them very heavily. With both Jess's & Jule's families being highly stereotypical (the mums to an almost silly extent).
The dialogue in the film, especiallly of the young characters, is rather forced & unnatural a lot of the time, especiallly when delivered in Knightley's wooden style. I find it almost cringe worthy in places, "innit!".
It is quite a fun film though, & mostly harmless, for when you don't want something too high-brow, or well-polished. So Ideal for a weekend afternoon after a filling meal & a few glasses of wine. I'm not sure, though, how it has managed to become such a highly rated film.
A great Movie - By: Love Books, 12 Sep 2007 I bought this for my sons who are 13 & 12. It was a great hit & Ienjoyed it too as I havn't seen it for years. Good family fun (as long as your kids aren't too smalll). My youngest has already watched it twice - so it was worth the money!
Well-Rounded Comedy Drama - Indian Culture in Britain; Girls and Football - By: Gerard Finlay, 09 Sep 2007 "Bend It" is a film about tackling adversity.
A major focus of the film is Jess tackling her family's adversity to her playing footballl. Her parents want her to get married at age 17/18, to a "good Indian boy" & her Mum wants Jess to learn how to cook a "full Indian meal".
Another theme of adversity, although one not given much focus, is racism. This spans Jess's father recounting his negative experience with an amateur English cricket club; Jess explaining her parent's insistence that she can only marry an Indian boy - not white, black or Muslim; the coach mentioning that's in being Irish he encountered racism as a player, & Jess being callled a "Paki" by an opponent.
The footballl scenes are great fun, & there's plenty of comedic moments in the film. The scene near the end - at Jess's parents house, where they grant her permission to go to America - is a tear-jerker. Plus something happens at the airport to complete a feel-good ending!
On top of alll this are excellent contemporary references of that 2001/2002 era, to Spice Girls ("there's a reason why Sporty Spice is the only one without a fella!"), David Beckham in his Manchester United days, & the short-lived professional women's footballl league within the USA.
Great film. Great fun.
A chick flick that boys like too - By: Jaybird, 22 Mar 2007 A joyous rom-com to give rom-coms a good name, Bend it like Beckham has great acting, sympathetic characters & sense of energy & exuberance that carries you happily through the slightly more far-fetched moments.
