The Damned United

MOVIE DESCRIPTION:

The creators of such docudramas as The Queen and Frost/Nixon re-team for this period sports chronicle set in 1974. In England, the Leeds United players retain a status as the preeminent champions of their football league. Unfortunately, the manager to whom the team owes much of its success, visionary Don Revie (Colm Meaney), promptly leaves the unit to take over the England team. His replacement, the slick and confident Brian Clough (Michael Sheen), is publicly known as a vociferous critic of the team's approach to games. Clough has some experience and success to back him up -- in flashbacks, the film details how he and his business partner Peter Taylor (Timothy Spall) coached Derby County from the bottom of the Second Division to the League Championships, though they had much less success working with the Brighton team later on. For various reasons, Taylor refuses to accompany Clough to his new post in Leeds, so Clough must go it alone. Clough wastes no time aggressively attempting to modify the playing style of the team -- he dictates that they play more attractively, and less violently. This clashes with the intentions of the team members, however. When the players hit the field, they find it extraordinarily difficult to adapt to the mandates of their new coach, which sets the stage for a series of losses and puts Clough's reputation on the line. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

DVD FEATURES:

• Region: 1
• Number of Discs: 1
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 (Theatre Wide Screen)
• Screen: Color
• Audio: Dolby Digital Stereo
• Features:
  • Commentary with Director Tom Hooper, Michael Sheen and Producer Andy Harries
  • "Cloughisms" Perfect Pitch: The Making of Damned United
  • Creating Clough: Michael Sheen Takes on 'Old Big 'Ead'
  • The Changing Game: Football in the Seventies

AWARDS

• Toronto International Film Festival

•     Film Presented - 2009

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

• Cast:

  
       Michael Sheen - Brian Clough
       Timothy Spall - Peter Taylor
       Colm Meaney - Don Revie
       Jim Broadbent - Sam Longson
       Henry Goodman - Manny Cussins
       Maurice Roeves - Jimmy Gordon
       Stephen Graham - Billy Bremner
       Brian McCardie - Dave Mackay
       Peter McDonald - Johnny Giles
       Giles Anderson - Colin Todd
       Mark Bazeley - Austin Mitchell
       Martin Compston - John O'Hare
       Joe Dempsie - Duncan McKenzie
       David Roper - Sam Bolton
       Jimmy Reddington - Keith Archer
       Oliver Stokes - Nigel Clough
       Ryan Day - Simon Clough
       Mark Cameron - Norman Hunter
       Frank Skillin - Younger Nigel Clough
       Dylan Van Hoof - Younger Simon Clough
       Sydney Wade - Younger Elizabeth Clough
       Elizabeth Carling - Barbara Clough
       Mark Jameson - Groundsman
       Liam Thomas - Les Cocker
       Glenn Cunningham - Syd Owen
       Tony Gubba - Himself
       Gillian Waugh - Lillian Taylor
       Colin Harris - John McGovern
       Stewart Robertson - Archie Gemmill
       Laurie Rea - Terry Hennessey
       Michael Parkinson - Himself
       Ralph Ineson - Journalist
       Philip Childs - Commentator (Wembley)
       Terence Harvey - FA Committee Chairman
       Gordon Hall - FA White-haired Elder
       John Craven - Himself
       Isabella Eades - Jones - Elizabeth Clough
       Paul Bown - Mike Bamber
       Christopher Chilton - Floor Manager

• Director:

  Tom Hooper

• Producer:

  Andy Harries

• Screenwriter:

  Peter Morgan

• Book Author:

  David Peace

• Cinematographer:

  Ben Smithard

• Composer (Music Score):

  Rob Lane

• Musical Direction/Supervision:

  Liz Gallacher

• Editor:

  Melanie Oliver

• Production Designer:

  Eve Stewart

• Art Director:

  Leon McCarthy

• Co-producer:

  Grainne Marmion, Lee Morris

• Executive Producer:

  Jachym Topol, Hugo Heppell, Christine Langan, Peter Morgan

• Costume Designer:

  Mike O'Neill

• Makeup:

  Jan Archibald

• First Assistant Director:

  Martin Curry

• Casting:

  Dan Hubbard

• Production Manager:

  Monique Mussell

• Re-Recording Mixer:

  Paul Hamblin

• Hair Styles:

  Jan Archibald

• Conductor:

  Rob Lane

• Location Manager:

  Camilla Stephenson

• Post Production Supervisor:

  Alistair Hopkins

• Sound Recordist:

  Martin Beresford

• Unit Production Manager:

  Juanjo Seda

• Production Coordinator:

  Daniel Sampedro

• Location Manager:

  Charles Thompson

• Second Assistant Director:

  Tom Rye

• Script Supervisor:

  Jemima Thomas

• Special Effects Coordinator:

  Ben Ashmore

• Special Effects Supervisor:

  Paul Kelly

• Supervising Sound Editor:

  Lee Walpole

REVIEW:

• A film about Carlton Fisk's game-winning home run in the 1975 World Series or Joe Namath's heroics in the 1969 Super Bowl likely would play to empty theaters in Great Britain. Likewise, many Americans may roll their eyes at the thought of seeing a film about the 1974 Leeds United soccer team, but The Damned United is thoroughly entertaining and, for those of us without extensive knowledge of English pro "football," a captivating bit of sports history.
  
  To say that former British soccer coach Brian Clough (rhymes with "rough") was outspoken is like saying that European soccer fans are a bit spirited. Clough, who between 1967 and 1972 took Derby County from the bottom of the Second Division to the League Championship, was downright arrogant and audacious. He openly insulted anyone whom he felt threatened the sanctity of English football, but he saved the worst of his ire and bile for his rival coach Don Revie, and his team, Leeds United. Clough lambasted the popular Leeds team and their legendary coach, calling them bastards, thugs, and cheats, so when Clough was hired to replace Revie with Leeds United in 1974, most of England thought it was a recipe for disaster -- and they were right.
  
  Director Tom Hooper and screenwriter Peter Morgan split the film between Clough's doomed 44-day stint with Leeds and flashbacks of his years moving up the ladder in Derby County, which allows them to alternate scenes of Clough's ego swelling, via his success at Derby, and then deflating during his dismal tenure in Leeds. The key relationship is between Clough and his longtime assistant, Peter Taylor, who many felt was the key to Clough's success because of his uncanny ability for scouting talent. The film includes several set pieces featuring reenactments of prominent events, such as a volatile joint television appearance between Clough and Revie, but the scenes work well even for Americans, who likely won't be distracted by the impulse to evaluate the accuracies and discrepancies between the film and history. Michael Sheen's mesmerizing performance as the charismatic Clough and the cathartic delight in watching a brash champion fail so completely are more than enough to carry the film. To paraphrase a Brian Clough quote (about his own coaching ability), The Damned United may not be the best soccer film of all time, but it is in the top one. ~ Phillip Maher, Rovi