'Shooting for Socrates'

In cinemas June 12th!

What’s the rule on spoilers here? This actually happened (more or less) and there are probably people who know more about the story than I do and I just finished watching it. 'Shooting for Socrates' tells the tale of the last time that scrappy underdog Northern Ireland qualified for the football world cup and their eventual match against towering behemoth Brazil. We follow a young David Campbell (Nico Mirallegro - 'My Mad Fat Diary') as he joins the team for the first time under the commanding presence of manager Billy Bingham (John Hannah - 'Four Weddings and a Funeral'), as well as a young lad called Tommy who is back in the virtual war zone of Belfast as he approaches his tenth birthday, following the team with pride and anticipation as they psych themselves up for a match that no one really expects them to win and with the country united behind them. This is punctuated by the Brazilian team having the titular “Socrates” on their side, a player who seems more like a myth than a man, a key figure in the democratic revolution in Brazil at the time and to top it all off he was also a doctor of medicine, achieving his doctorate during his time playing football. Seriously, this is a real guy, look him up.

As a man who has literally never taken any kind of interest in sports I’m always impressed by a sports movie that can draw me in. I’m not captivated by the spectacle (no, not even of “the beautiful game”), I’m not invested in the world and I don’t care to see how everything works behind the scenes. However, this in no way reflects my choices when it comes to movies and there are powerful stories to be told in the world of sport as there are dull and lifeless ones. If this seem like stalling it’s because 'Shooting for Socrates' sits in that awkward middle ground where I genuinely can’t think of anything all that interesting to say about it.

It’s not so terrible I can bash it or so amazing I can praise it. It was good but all very much made of nothing. Unfortunately, and ultimately this is a fault of the film, I’m keenly aware that this movie wasn’t made for me. If you’re a big football nut then you’ll probably like it. If you’re Irish and interested in a little slice of your culture and history, you’ll probably like it. If you’re Irish, interested in a little slice of your culture and history and you’re a big football nut then maybe this is the greatest movie ever made, I don’t know, but I don’t think you’ll love this movie unless at least some of that is true.

If I had to describe the film in one word it would be unfocused. I could try and go into more barely touched upon plot details such as the parallels of politics, religion and philosophy of the time but frankly it’s not really there, and however much subtext you try to read into the film you’re probably going to end up feeling empty. It is on the whole a good film but not a great one, it’s a special kind of filmmaker who can find tension in events we already know the outcome of and this hasn't achieved it, though the ending does have an uplifting message that almost makes up for that. Almost.

The drama of game isn’t quite captured here and despite a handful of good gags the comedy largely falls flat as well, though I’d say it’s still where the film looks to be the most comfortable and a little more emphasis here would have been the way to go. The ensemble cast, another thing that’s tricky to pull off, actually does work really well, there’s no weak link with I think Jackie Fullerton (Conleth Hill - 'Game of Thrones') being the highlight for me, and the cast as a whole do a great job of constructing their own sympathies without pulling focus so that the various plot threads sync together nicely. It’s just I wasn’t all that interested in any of them.

All in all the film feels kind of hollow. The front line that is the streets of Belfast makes for a lot of tense set ups, but nothing really happens. In Brazil despite explicit orders from Billy the squad sneak out for a drink and a bit of late night chicanery, but nothing really happens. Tommy turns ten and his dad fulfils a promise to him that he has been waiting for the whole movie, it’s a sweet moment, but nothing really happens. We have two comic relief characters who sell everything they own to go to Brazil and support the team, but again they don’t really do anything or serve a purpose, so … yeah … nothing really happens.

This film is a whole lot of nothing really happening, we have Campbell joining the team and the lead up to his first ever match for his country, and although he mopes about a bit because he can’t get the managers attention straight away he pretty much fits in and we don’t spend enough time with him to really feel his angst. Even if you don’t know the story in advance it’s clear that he’ll eventually be allowed to play otherwise what’s the point... In addition whilst Ireland in the eighties is a fascinating backdrop for any story the film clearly doesn’t want to be about that and so never commits to any kind of political or philosophical thinking despite how much it insists that it’s making a statement in the third act.

Socrates himself is portrayed at the end to be some kind of villain of the piece but that truly comes out of nowhere and isn’t nearly a strong enough motivation to support the “take that” moment he receives in the titles epilogue. Yes he’s a presence throughout the film and is portrayed as a bit of a tool, but this seemed way out of place to me. Personally I’d have preferred to have focused on Campbell, he has stars in his eyes, jumps at the chance to prove himself, is the outsider of the team at first but is eventually accepted and becomes one of the lads. Yes it’s ripped from the pages of the Idiots Guide to Scriptwriting but cliches are there for a reason, they work, especially in a genre not well known for its innovation.

At the end of the day you probably know from the subject matter alone whether this films appeals to you and you likely won’t be disappointed, but if it doesn’t then I probably wouldn’t worry about catching this one.

Review by Kristian Mitchell-Dolby.
See this review on The Fan Carpet.

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