There are those who have been reluctant to see "Bend It Like Beckham," because they are a little dubious of the quality of the film. Any combination of David Beckham and teenage girls seems destined for failure. Not to mention the fact that the last movie made about soccer, "The Big Green" was nothing more than a cheap rip-off of"'The Mighty Ducks."
However, the film is extremely funny and deals with a surprising number of real-life issues for being a movie geared toward an adolescent audience.
The film contains pretty normal teenage content, friendship, crushes and the like, but also dealt with bigger issues like homophobia, racism, sexism and the main theme of the clash between religious and cultural ideals and pursuing a dream which conflicts with those ideals, in this case football (soccer).
The story is that of 18-year old Jess Bhamra, who hosts a shrine to David Beckham in her bedroom and likes to kick around with her male Indian friends in the park, but has never played organized football.
On several occasions while playing, she is watched by Jules Paxton, who thinks Jess has the potential to play for her girls' club team, the Hounslow Harriers.
She invites Jess out to practice, where Jess meets the handsome young coach, Joe, whom she eventually falls for. Unfortunately for her, she's not alone on the team in her feelings.
Naturally this comes into play later in the film when a night out with Joe and the team puts Jess in a compromising position and jeopardizes her friendship with her new best friend, Jules.
Throughout the film, both girls deal with resistance from their parents because of their desire to be footballers. Jules' mom believes that playing football is making her into a tomboy and driving her toward lesbianism, while Jess's mom cares about three things for Jess: learning to make chapattis and other traditional Indian dishes, getting engaged and married off to a respectable Indian boy and going to university.
Jess' dad, on the other hand, seems to quietly condone her love of football, but forbids her to play all the same because he fears her heart will be broken, as his was when he was banned from playing cricket in England due to his race.
Jess is able to train with the team for a while, pretending to work a summer job at HMV and clandestinely sneaking off to practice. The family doesn't seem to notice her absence since they are all caught up in planning her older sister Pinky's wedding. However, the parents of Pinky's fiance catch a glimpse of Jess at a bus stop appearing to be kissing a white boy.
The marriage is threatened to be called off because the parents of the fiance believe that one sister's behavior is certainly indicative of the other's. Although Jess swears on the portrait of Guru Nanak that she was only hugging her friend, Jules, Pinky sells her out anyway by saying that she has been sneaking out to play football with the girls.
After continuing to sneak out, she comes to a point at which she must decide whether she will remain loyal to her family and support her sister on this important day, or follow her heart and play in the game.
The movie is very well done in the sense that it deals with dramatic issues in a lighthearted, humorous way that is not too heavy for teenagers. It also plays well thematically because it's the first movie to focus on women's soccer, a sport that has grown leaps and bounds in popularity over the last ten years, but has yet to receive adequate attention on the screen.
Naturally, some elements of the movie are slightly fake, like the coach's close relation with the team, and his amorous relations with one of his young players are definitely forced. Does any female athlete go out clubbing with their coach at tournaments? But then again, this is a British film, taking place in Britain where sport and beer are inherently linked, so perhaps it's not so unrealistic after all.
I wasn't so impressed by the quality of the actual football footage either. It was really inconsistent and bothered me that there would be these sweet, nicely finessed moves, and then Jess and Jules would pass the ball off at a painfully slow speed and it just made the scenes look really fake. But not everyone can bend it like David Beckham (haha) so the so-so quality of the action scenes will have to suffice.
All in all, I think the movie was original, creative and fun. The 112 minutes fly by, and the interactions between both Jules' and Jess' parents were hilarious.
Director Gurinder Chadha carefully presents the Sikh traditions and culture in a funny, yet realistic and respectable manner. Heavy material is dealt with in pitch perfect sensitive yet lighthearted style. Additionally, it can be enjoyed by more mature audiences, like ourselves and the older folks, but is completely appropriate for younger kids as well. "Bend It Like Beckham" was great fun and I recommend it highly.
