It's a far more conflcited animal, whose moments of genuine effort are balanced or occasionally outweighed by lowest common denominator rubbish. But even films which don't go out of their way to be sympathetic with brain-dead fascist louts can get so deep into the mythology of their subjects that their moral standard disappears (Rise of the Foot Soldier being a good example).īeing a relatively early entry in this unfortunate little canon, The Football Factory isn't guilty of this to the same extent. Green Street is by far the worst offender, trying to make out that targeted acts of violence along tribal lines can be noble, and that the mob mentality of hooligans can be justified by calling it an essential feature of masculine friendship. The central problem with many films about football hooliganism is that they end up glorifying the very thing they are supposed to be attacking. But while there is a great deal in this film which will send polite, middle-class film reviewers running for the hills in despair, it is at least more watchable and marginally more ambitious than many of the others in its company. It has one foot in the vile excesses of Green Street while aspiring to be like Shallow Grave or Dead Man's Shoes. Where Take the Lead had to contend with being somewhere between Step Up and Blackboard Jungle, The Football Factory is trying at once to be a sports film, a gritty drama and in places a dark comedy. But they do share one key similarity which hobbles them - namely that they are a perfect storm of two or more sub-genres which are old as dirt. One is a film about a teacher trying to reach underachieving pupils through ballroom dancing, and the other is a laddy, meat-headed snapshot of football hooliganism. On the surface, Take the Lead and The Football Factory may have little in common.

The football factory novel