Looking for Eric

Reviews

CinemaSerf
One minute he is telling us about seagulls and sardines, the next he is acting as a glorified counsellor - and that's when he's not helping Manchester United to rule the roost in the English Premier League. Eric is a multi-talented fellow, which is just as well as he has quite a task. It's super-fan "Eric" (Steve Evets) who is part of a dyed-in-the-wool group of postmen-fans of the club who lives with his stepsons "Ryan" (Gerard Kearns) and "Jess" (Stefan Gumbs) who have little respect for the man. Things all start to come to an head when the gullible "Ryan" gets himself involved with local hoodlum "Zac" (Steve Marsh) who gets him to hide a gun under the floorboards. When this is found some home truths have to be shared between these men - truths that lead to violence, a police raid and then maybe the best example of group participation I've ever seen on screen. It's got many of Ken Loach's usual hallmark views on the typical working class, but they don't take front and centre as prominently as in many of his more political films. This one comes across as more a critique on the dynamics of a family, and a largely male one at that, of community and of the almost tribal attitudes and loyalties that passionate following of a football club can engender. Evets handles his role well, especially in his scenes with his footballing icon that appear shot in such a fashion as to look like they are in the same room, sharing a drink or a cigarette, but also looking like they are not. It's Kearns who steals the show for me, though - his performance is engagingly visceral and at times quite touching. There's some gritty humour to be had here, too, and a little dig at those who gentrified football with their 4x4s and their season tickets at the expense of the ordinary fans. It's blunt and brutal, sensitive, funny and worth a watch.
Movie Recommendation
- Kenny2017-11-20An intimate and revealing portrait of Kenny Dalglish – the player, the man, the truth.More...
- Mookie1998-12-09A talking chimp, a jolly monk and a boxer on the run make an unlikely team in this French comedy for children. Brother Benoit, a French monk working with underprivileged youth in Mexico, one day finds a sick chimpanzee in need of water and medical attention. He brings the chimp back to his mission and nurses her back to health, naming her Mookie. A year later, Brother Benoit discovers Mookie can not only play basketball, but she can talk, the result of an exposure to radiation from a meteor crash. Primate experts from America are eager to get their hands on the little ape, but the Brother will allow no experiments to be performed on her. The Brother recruits Antoine, a boxer down on his luck, to help Mookie and the Brother flee to Mexico City, but when it turns out Antoine is wanted by the Mexican Mafia for not throwing a fight, all three must make tracks to insure their safety.More...
- The Sea Wall2009-01-07The film centers on a young French widow and her two adolescent children as they attempt to carve out a meager life for themselves by farming rice fields alongside the ocean in French Indo-China in the 1930s. Their efforts are hampered each year by the presence of the sea, which invariably floods the fields with saltwater and wipes out the crops. In desperation, the mother realizes that their only hope lies in the construction of a sea wall to prevent continued flooding, but the mother must cut a swath through the local bureaucracy in an almost Sisyphean attempt to make this happen. Meanwhile, her obstinate daughter, Suzanne, draws the romantic obsessions of a well-to-do Chinese gentleman, Monsieur Jo. Though he could easily provide a way out, the possibility of a romantic relationship between Jo and Suzanne could just as easily fall prey to local racial prejudices that would damage or ruin the lives of both.More...
- Bread and Roses2000-09-14Maya is a quick-witted young woman who comes over the Mexican border without papers and makes her way to the LA home of her older sister Rosa. Rosa gets Maya a job as a janitor: a non-union janitorial service has the contract, the foul-mouthed supervisor can fire workers on a whim, and the service-workers' union has assigned organizer Sam Shapiro to bring its "justice for janitors" campaign to the building. Sam finds Maya a willing listener, she's also attracted to him. Rosa resists, she has an ailing husband to consider. The workers try for public support; management intimidates workers to divide and conquer. Rosa and Maya as well as workers and management may be set to collide.More...
- Route Irish2011-03-16A private security contractor in Iraq rejects the official explanation of his friend's death and decides to investigate.More...
- Look Away2019-02-13Europe, the rule of law and host countries? Look elsewhere denounces what is happening in many European cities by taking the example of Calais. From the expulsion from the "jungle" in October 2016 to the situation there a year later, Arthur shared moments of life with men and women of Sudanese, Afghan, Ethiopian, Eritrean and local descent of Calais. By highlighting the gap between the field and the official speeches, this film shows us the strategy put in place to dissuade the exiles from staying. With original filming methods and his civic gaze, the director has managed to film the state harassment, the media staging, but also the strength and humor of the exiles.More...
- The Devil and Daniel Johnston2006-03-31This 2005 documentary film chronicles the life of Daniel Johnston, a manic-depressive genius singer/songwriter/artist, from childhood up to the present, with an emphasis on his mental illness and how it manifested itself in demonic self-obsession.More...
- That Most Important Thing: Love1975-02-12Servais Mont, a freelance photographer who works taking compromising photos, gets fascinated by Nadine Chevalier, a tormented low-budget movie actress married to an eccentric film photo collector.More...
- Planet of the Vampires1965-09-15After landing on a mysterious planet, a team of astronauts begin to turn on each other, swayed by the uncertain influence of the planet and its strange inhabitants.More...
- Shadows1960-10-14The relationship between Lelia, a light-skinned black woman, and Tony, a white man is put in jeopardy when Tony meets Lelia’s darker-skinned jazz singer brother, Hugh, and discovers that her racial heritage is not what he thought it was.More...
- Ulysses1954-10-06A movie adaptation of Homer's second epic, that talks about Ulysses' efforts to return to his home after the end of ten years of war.More...
- The Wind That Shakes the Barley2006-06-23In 1920s Ireland young doctor Damien O'Donovan prepares to depart for a new job in a London hospital. As he says his goodbyes at a friend's farm, British Black and Tans arrive, and a young man is killed. Damien joins his brother Teddy in the Irish Republican Army, but political events are soon set in motion that tear the brothers apart.More...
- Another World2022-02-16An executive manager, his wife and his family, at the point when his professional choices are about to overturn all their lives. Philippe Lemesle and his wife are separating, their love irretrievably damaged by pressures of work. A successful executive in industrial conglomerate, Philippe no longer knows how to respond to the contradictory demands of his bosses. Yesterday they wanted a manager, today an enforcer. Now he must decide what his life really means.More...
- Starter for 102006-09-13In 1985, against the backdrop of Thatcherism, Brian Jackson enrolls in the University of Bristol, a scholarship boy from seaside Essex with a love of knowledge for its own sake and a childhood spent watching University Challenge, a college quiz show. At Bristol he tries out for the Challenge team and falls under the spell of Alice, a lovely blond with an extensive sexual past.More...
- Daisies1966-12-30Two teenage girls embark on a series of destructive pranks in which they consume and destroy the world around them.More...
- The Two Faces of January2014-05-161962. A con artist, his wife, and a dangerous stranger are caught up in the murder of a private detective and are forced to try and escape Athens.More...
- Martha Marcy May Marlene2011-10-21After several years of living with a cult, Martha finally escapes and calls her estranged sister, Lucy, for help. Martha finds herself at the quiet Connecticut home Lucy shares with her new husband, Ted, but the memories of what she experienced in the cult make peace hard to find. As flashbacks continue to torment her, Martha fails to shake a terrible sense of dread, especially in regard to the cult's manipulative leader.More...
- Z1969-02-26Amid a tense political climate, the opposition leader is killed in an apparent accident. When a prosecutor smells a cover-up, witnesses get targeted. A thinly veiled dramatization of the assassination of Greek politician Grigoris Lambrakis and its aftermath, “Z” captures the outrage at the US-backed junta that ruled Greece at the time of its release.More...
- Deconstructing Harry1997-12-12Writer Harry Block draws inspiration from people he knows, and from events that happened to him, sometimes causing these people to become alienated from him as a result.More...
- Harold and Maude1971-12-20The young Harold lives in his own world of suicide-attempts and funeral visits to avoid the misery of his current family and home environment. Harold meets an 80-year-old woman named Maude who also lives in her own world yet one in which she is having the time of her life. When the two opposites meet they realize that their differences don’t matter and they become best friends and love each other.More...
Similar Movies
Shanghai Express
1932-02-12A beautiful temptress re-kindles an old romance while trying to escape her past during a tension-packed train journey.Cars
2006-06-08Lightning McQueen, a hotshot rookie race car driven to succeed, discovers that life is about the journey, not the finish line, when he finds himself unexpectedly detoured in the sleepy Route 66 town of Radiator Springs. On route across the country to the big Piston Cup Championship in California to compete against two seasoned pros, McQueen gets to know the town's offbeat characters.Cinderella Man
2005-06-02The true story of boxer Jim Braddock who, following his retirement in the 1930s, makes a surprise comeback in order to lift his family out of poverty.The Hustler
1961-09-25Fast Eddie Felson is a small-time pool hustler with a lot of talent but a self-destructive attitude. His bravado causes him to challenge the legendary Minnesota Fats to a high-stakes match.The Wild Soccer Bunch...
2007-02-01With the victory against "The Beastly Beasts", "The Wild Soccer Bunch" showed it to everyone and then won every single game. Only one victory now separates them from the "Pott", the Freestyle Soccer Cup. For this they have to compete against the "Wolves of Ragnarök". But the wolves are not normal opponents! They have a dark secret - and behind them lurks a power stronger than all of them: the girl Horizon and the "Silver Lights" from the fog...Rocky
1976-11-20An uneducated collector for a Philadelphia loan shark is given a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to fight against the world heavyweight boxing champion.Rocky II
1979-06-15After Rocky goes the distance with champ Apollo Creed, both try to put the fight behind them and move on. Rocky settles down with Adrian but can't put his life together outside the ring, while Creed seeks a rematch to restore his reputation. Soon enough, the "Master of Disaster" and the "Italian Stallion" are set on a collision course for a climactic battle that is brutal and unforgettable.Rocky III
1982-05-28After an intense fight with Clubber Lang and the death of his trainer Mickey, Rocky Balboa is left devastated. Former rival Apollo Creed steps in to help Balboa get back his fighting spirit.Rocky IV
1985-11-21After Apollo Creed is killed by Ivan Drago in a match, Rocky Balboa becomes depressed and becomes determined to get revenge.Rocky V
1990-11-16A lifetime of taking shots has ended Rocky’s career, and a crooked accountant has left him broke. Inspired by the memory of his trainer, however, Rocky finds glory in training and takes on an up-and-coming boxer.Barren Lives
1963-08-22In vivid images, the documentary-like story of a drover and his family in the northern badlands of Brazil during the drought. A family in the search of new hope and destiny.Rumble
2016-03-05A deaf boxer must decide whether to give up the sport he loves in favour of an operation that could allow him to hear for the first time.Human Nature
2001-09-12Obsessive scientist Nathan and his lover, the naturalist Lila, discover Puff: a man born and raised in the wild. As Nathan trains the wild man in the civilized ways of the world, Lila fights to preserve the man’s natural state. In the power struggle that ensues, an unusual love triangle emerges.Bend It Like Beckham
2002-04-11Jess Bhamra, the daughter of a strict Indian couple in London, is not permitted to play organized soccer, even though she is 18. When Jess is playing for fun one day, her impressive skills are seen by Jules Paxton, who then convinces Jess to play for her semi-pro team. Jess uses elaborate excuses to hide her matches from her family while also dealing with her romantic feelings for her coach, Joe.Borat: Cultural Learn...
2006-11-01Kazakh journalist Borat Sagdiyev travels to America to make a documentary. As he zigzags across the nation, Borat meets real people in real situations with hysterical consequences. His backwards behavior generates strong reactions around him exposing prejudices and hypocrisies in American culture.Once Were Warriors
1994-09-02A drama about a Maori family living in Auckland, New Zealand. Lee Tamahori tells the story of Beth Heke’s strong will to keep her family together during times of unemployment and abuse from her violent and alcoholic husband.Match Point
2005-10-26Chris, a former tennis player, looks for work as an instructor. He meets Tom Hewett, a wealthy young man whose sister Chloe falls in love with Chris. But Chris has his eye on Tom's fiancee Nola.See You in Montevideo...
2014-01-15A football team from Belgrade, former Republic of Yugoslavia gets a chance to go to the First World Football Championship, but things get complicated along the way.2 Days in Paris
2007-02-09Marion and Jack try to rekindle their relationship with a visit to Paris, home of Marion's parents — and several of her ex-boyfriends.Lucky You
2007-05-01A professional poker player whose astounding luck at the table fails to translate into his lonesome love life attempts to win the World Series of Poker while simultaneously earning the affections of a beautiful Las Vegas singer.