The Damned United (Sundance)

"Crap. They never bloody 'score' in this sport."

Coming fresh off of the success of the Queen and Frost/Nixon, actor Michael Sheen and screenwriter Peter Morgan have teamed up again for a unique sports drama about Leeds United team manager Brian Clough and his 44 disastrous days managing Leeds United, notorious in the annals of British soccer. It is also told with reccurent flashbacks to Clough's humble beginnings in Derby and rise to fame leading Derby's soccer team circa 1968-1973.

To call this film a sports drama is more of an approximation because what you get in large part is a tale of one mans personal demons interfering with his career and his friendship with a co manager(Timothy Spall, whom you will recognize from the Harry Potter films). Early in the film you see Sheens character leading Derby's lower division soccer team and their eventual rise in rank. During this a sequence of them getting beaten heartily by top ranked Leeds United. Leeds' rough tactics and team manager Don Revie( a top form Colm Meaney) who snubs Clough by not noticing Clough and shaking his hand as is the tradition before games. It serves as a catalyst for Sheens character to take the team to the top and to a higher division, all with help from Spall's character.

The real drama however begins a few years later as Clough jeopardizes his reputation and friendship all in the name of money and stature. As the new manager of Leeds Utd. he seems to take out all his frustrations on the team and their former manager. He seems self defeating in his handling of the players, especially star player Billy Bremner(Stephen Graham, Snatch, Gangs of New York) who gets suspended for a large portion of the season. In one priceless scene, an emotionally broken Clough phones up Don Revie in the middle of the night and tells him that he must be loving what is happening. It's as if all of Cough's insecurities and failures are somehow in his mind all the grand workings of Meaney's character(later it is proven false).

In the end of the film we find a well earned reconciliation and a montage of Brian Clough eventual vindication leading team Britain and a few other interesting facts. The storytelling is gripping and concise throughout and although not quite as memorable as the Queen of Frost/Nixon, this film is definitely another stepping stone in Michael Sheens fascinating rise as one of the top British actors of the past decade.