Great Film: A Shot at Glory
One of the better football movies
It's difficult to make a movie about football (soccer) that will satisfy
one's appetite for interesting match scenes as well as a desire for a
worthwhile plot. 'A Shot at Glory' certainly does not pull this off, but
it
is an attempt worth watching in any case.
The plot is rather mediocre, but at least it is somewhat linked to the
fortunes of the team itself. Nosy American owner (Keaton) buys team,
threatens to move it to Ireland if aging coach (Duvall) can't win the
Scottish Cup. The second strand of the plot involves the former Golden
Boot
winner (McCoist) brought in by the owner, who is the somewhat estranged
son-in-law of the coach. The third element, of course, is the performance
of
the team itself. There is certainly some awful dialog in the film, but it
quickly passes from memory once the matches begin.
In comparison to 'Bend It Like Beckham' and 'Mean Machine,' the two
football-related films 'A Shot at Glory' can easily be weighed against,
the
film at hand establishes itself as the clear choice in terms of the
realism
of the matches. The experience of watching each match is rather like
watching a cinematic version of Championship Manager -- there is very
little
continuity between moves, but it somehow seems to make sense.
At the end of the day, 'A Shot at Glory' is well worth watching if you
are
looking for a well-executed football movie. The plot may be formulaic,
but
the match scenes put many others to shame.
Cast
- Kelsey O'Brian played by Cole Hauser
- Gordon McCloud played by Robert Duvall
- Commentator 1 played by Andy Gray
- Eric The Bagpiper played by Finlay Macdonald
- Widow Wilson played by Sheila Latimer
- Peter Cameron played by Michael Keaton
- Jackie McQuillan played by Ally Mccoist
