The Damned United

The Damned United is a film about the legendary British football manager Brian Clough and his time as manager of Leeds United, which only lasted 44 days. It is adapted from the book of the same name by David Pearce and is an interesting insight into the history of football.

Before moving to Leeds United, Brian Clough had worked with Derby County, alongside Peter Taylor, and had enjoyed enormous success. Before he took over, Derby were at the bottom of the old Second Division and Clough helped them to win the First Division and play in the European Cup. The film (and book) present Clough as obsessed with Leeds United and their manager, Don Revie, since they played each other in the FA Cup and Revie ignored him. Brian Clough was a very outspoken man and frequently made comments in the press against Leeds United. However, after he left Derby County and agreed to join Brighton & Hove Albion with Taylor, Leeds United made him an offer because Revie had taken the England job. Clough goes to Leeds without Taylor and things very quickly fall apart. His unique style of management was foreign to everything the Leeds players had known under Revie, and is sacked after 44 days.

Michael Sheen is fantastic as Brian Clough. He does very well to get the tone and speaking style of Brian Clough very near to perfect. His mannerisms in television interviews are also fantastically detailed. Sheen does an excellent job of conveying the character of Clough as well. He comes across as a man who just wants to win. His short temper and hunger for victory is seen continually throughout the film, and the audience often feels a bit sorry for Clough as his reign at Leeds seems doomed before it even began. Sheen has a bit of a knack for playing famous men with such skill and ability that you almost forget who the actor is.

Timothy Spall plays Clough’s assistant manager Peter Taylor. Personally I think he does very well and is exceptionally likeable. Both Clough and Taylor come across as exceptionally good friends in this film, which of course they were, and both Sheen and Spall do a good job to present this so enjoyably. There are a number of minor characters who do very well. Jim Broadbent is thoroughly dislikable as the chairman of Derby County, and this is fantastic acting from Broadbent. I don’t think I've seen a film in which I've disliked Broadbent’s character too much, but The Damned United is definitely him at his most despicable. The actors who play the Leeds United team do very well too. They feel like a strong unit of players and come across as a small family for the parts of the film when they are on-screen. The flashbacks to the past with Don Revie as manager only serve to reinforce this, and when Clough arrives at Elland Road (Leeds United’s home ground) he never fits in. From the first image of the players standing around looking at their new celebrity manager it is apparent that Clough’s time at Leeds will be short-lived. These actors do very well to convey such hostility as a group.

The Damned United book is very gripping and fantastically entertaining because of the way it is laid out chronologically. The film does a fantastic job of translating this exciting story to the screen. In both the book and the film Clough’s time at Leeds is interspersed with his success at Derby so that by the time he is sacked as Leeds manager he is also leaving Derby. This serves to make the book seem very cyclical, and while the film missed out on this slightly, the scene at the end where Clough and Taylor make up serves to complete the notion that all is well again. Indeed the little montage at the end shows just how successful this partnership would be. However, the Clough family, who are largely critical of the book, maintain that neither the book nor the film truly represent what actually happened. Many people in football have said that the film isn't a great representation of the truth, and some have said that the film plays up the friendship between Clough and Taylor.

I don’t think that this is a massive problem though, because regardless of whether the film is a detailed historical account or not, the basic ideas are there. Clough was critical of Leeds, and then became their manager. The more recent example of Rafael Benitez as Chelsea manager shows just how difficult this can make your job. The filmmakers wanted to focus on the ideas of jealousy and betrayal more than historical accuracy, and for the purposes of cinematic entertainment, this works perfectly. It’s a very enjoyable film and serves to inform people about the ups and downs of football.

Personally, as a massive football fan, I really enjoyed The Damned United, and it should definitely appeal to other football fans. If you are not a football fan though, this doesn't mean that you won’t enjoy it. I watched this with my girlfriend, who is very apathetic when it comes to all things football, and she really enjoyed it as well. It is a very entertaining film and, despite some historical inaccuracies, has fantastic actors playing fantastic characters. All round, The Damned United is sure to provide some entertainment.