The Firm

Dir: Alan Clarke

Year: 1989

Cast: Gary Oldman

Genre: Drama/Crime/Sport

Cert: 18

Rating: ★★★★

IMDb

The Firm is the story about an estate agent named Clive "Bex" Bissell (Gary Oldman) who has a more preferable job of being the leader of a football firm. He's in constant battle with the other firms to try get to Europe for the 1988 European championships. Back and forth vandalism and violence between the groups. He's also trying to be a father around all the violence in his life but they constantly overlap.

I thought this film was excellent, as usual with Alan Clarke, who also made the likes of Scum and Made In Britain. All three started as TV movies and had fuck all budget but that's what made them better, it was literally like being 10 feet from everything that was going on. Every scene seemed completely realistic and the ending was genuinely shocking. I didn't see it coming at all and I'm usually rather good at noticing them. I will however insist nobody accidentally see the atrocious remake done in 2009 by Nick Love, he completely ruined it and glamorized it with 80's music and stupid sub-plots. It had no realism what-so-ever. Gary Oldman in brilliant in this also, everything scene with him is realistic to the point of feeling like its a documentary on this persons life. It was Alan Clarke's final film too, as he unfortunately died in 1990.

This is definitely one for people who love gritty, realistic British dramas.