Gerry (Steven Warrington) and Tommy (The Full Monty's Paul Barber) are two loveable Liverpool cabbies who dream of bringing their grown-up sons to the 2005 Champions League final in Istanbul. The Koppites are already indebted to a local loan shark. But they do have a whacky scheme and a pair of Hitler's cufflinks. Cue much bungling, capering and one footballing miracle.
Liverpudlians are not noted for their lack of sentimentality, particularly when it comes to football. An operatic terrace deserves an operatic event. And in 2005, Liverpool FC supporters got all the melodrama they could handle.
Following on from Fifteen Minutes That Shook The World (2009) and Will (2011), this adaptation of Nicky Allt's play is the third feature film inspired by Liverpool's remarkable comeback at the Atatürk Olympic Stadium.
It is not, perhaps, the vainglorious vehicle that Liverpool FC's fifth European title deserves. Budgetary constraints tell in relentlessly close camera work. The plot is pure pantomime. The comedy is old-school. Barber was a regular on Only Fools and Horses, a show that may want him and their jokes back.
The good news for Reds is that James Marquand's film, although no Damned United, is a much better 'Pool caper flick than, say, 51st State. Warrington and Barber have a lovely warm chemistry. There are some good, silly jokes: "One word," Tommy tells a disdainful AC Milan fan: "Steven Gerrard. "
The film is unlikely to bring much cheer to fans of, say, the blue team running around Finch Farm. But for the faithful, any excuse to watch that penalty shootout again will suffice. Get in, Jerzy Dudek. Legend.
