Issue 149

Sixty-Six

20th November 2006

When you think of 1966, football is probably the first thing that comes to mind. As surely the Welsh students are sick of hearing; the English triumphed in historic circumstance. Although the World Cup is a central theme in Paul Weiland's (Roseanna's Grave, City Slickers II) new film, the approach comes from an unusual angle.

Bernie Reuben (Gregg Sulkin) is a 12 year old son of a Jewish grocers store owner in London. He is the sort of guy that is always picked last when choosing teams down the park. He is small, wears glasses and also suffers from Asthma. But all of this won't matter on his big day: his next birthday will mark his Bar Mitzvah; a huge occasion for any Jewish boy marking his passage into manhood. Desperate to be the centre of attention, Bernie is keen to make his "party" a huge event, complete with 250 guests, ice sculptures and full orchestra. However, fate has other ideas.

Bernie's father (Eddie Marsan) and uncle (Peter Serafinowicz) have run a family grocers store for many years. But competition from a new American style super market has had serious impact on their takings, meaning the downsizing of Bernie's Bar Mitzvah. His mother (Helena Bonham Carter) tries to make this a positive aspect in that it will be "exclusive", but from that day forth the scale of Bernie's party diminishes rapidly. Worst of all, that minor event, the World Cup Final, is scheduled to take place on the same day. When England make it through the qualifying rounds, Bernie's party looks set to turn into a near disaster and he gets more frustrated with every passing second. Bernie's only hope is that England do not make it to the final.

The movie is set in the 60s and as such the costumes and the other props correspond to this time period realistically. The extensive use of vintage cars, detailed décor and the costumes all contribute to give the film its aesthetic and contextual realism, enhanced further by the music and vintage television clips, including the use of black and white footage illustrating England's road to Wembley. The young actor Gregg Sulkin produces an impressively mature performance, portraying the obvious frustration of a young man in his situation. While this film is not a blockbuster, it is also not a football movie. This film is neither a comedy nor a heartbreaking drama, although aspects of this story do fall in both categories. All in all this isn't a bad movie, the problem is, it isn't a great one either.

Andrea Baumgartner-Ledger