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Green Street Hooligans
Freestyle Releasing

Green Street Hooligans reviews
Critic Score
Metascore: 55 Metascore out of 100
User Score  
8.9 out of 10
based on 22 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
based on 66 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie

MPAA RATING: R for brutal violence, pervasive language and some drug use

Starring Elijah Wood, Charlie Hunnam, Claire Forlani, Marc Warren, Leo Gregory, Henry Goodman, Geoff Bell, and Rafe Spall

When American Matt Buckner (Wood) is expelled unfairly from Harvard, he flees to England and is draw into the underworld of British football hooliganism. Green Street Hooligans is a story of loyalty, trust, and the sometimes brutal consequences of living close to the edge. (Freestyle Releasing)


GENRE(S): Crime  |  Drama  
WRITTEN BY: Lexi Alexander
Dougie Brimson
Josh Shelov
 
DIRECTED BY: Lexi Alexander  
RELEASE DATE: DVD: June 13, 2006 
Theatrical: September 9, 2005 
RUNNING TIME: 109 minutes, Color 
ORIGIN: USA / UK 

Best of the Fest, 2005 Malibu Film Festival

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

88
Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
Then I realized the movie's point is that someone like this nerdy Harvard boy might be transformed in a fairly short time into a bloodthirsty gang fighter. The message is that violence is hard-wired into men, if only the connection is made.
Read Full Review
80
Film Threat Don R. Lewis
A great film because of it's realism and the ability to show viewers a world that exists even today, but not everyone knows about.
Read Full Review
75
New York Post Kyle Smith
Director and co-writer Lexi Alexander choreographs the fight scenes with thrilling chaos, and the plot unfolds expertly if melodramatically.
Read Full Review
75
San Francisco Chronicle G. Allen Johnson
Terrific.
Read Full Review
75
Boston Globe Wesley Morris
The movie, though, is nonsense. At its most credible, the story evokes fond memories of the adult drug narcs hiding among American high schoolers on ''21 Jump Street."
Read Full Review
70
Variety Joe Leydon
Unvarnished verisimilitude, visceral impact and vividly evoked emotional and physical extremes distinguish Hooligans, the impressive debut feature by German-born helmer Lexi Alexander.
Read Full Review
70
LA Weekly Scott Foundas
Playing something of a cipher who reinvents himself as the occasion demands, Wood is unusually well cast, but it's Hunnam, with a psychotic twinkle in his eye, who turns the movie on whenever he's onscreen.
Read Full Review
67
Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov
At its best when it goes down to the pub and captures, quite flawlessly, the grotty intoxication of these mad, bad, dangerous-to-know Hammers fans hoisting incalculable pints.
Read Full Review
67
Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy
It's a handsome and spry movie, and it might even have managed to be a good one if there were even the least chance of believing that Wood, who can't weigh 145 pounds dripping wet, had the slightest chance of hurting anyone with one of his wee fists.
Read Full Review
63
New York Daily News Jami Bernard
Wood is compelling, but Charlie Hunnam ("Nicholas Nickleby") is the one to watch.
Read Full Review
50
Chicago Reader J.R. Jones
The gentle Wood isn't very convincing as a bare-knuckle brawler (which bodes ill for his forthcoming role as Iggy Pop), and the movie settles into a payback soap opera reminiscent of "West Side Story."
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50
Dallas Observer Luke Y. Thompson
The world of football riots seems rife with potential for the big screen, but Green Street Hooligans only periodically rises to it.
Read Full Review
50
The New York Times Manohla Dargis
Green Street Hooligans, an accidental advertisement for Alcoholics Anonymous and the somnolent pleasures of cricket that, in the end, is mostly about the pleasures, both visceral and visual, of violence.
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50
Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas
Serves up a lot of bone-crushing violence in an offbeat context with considerable style and energy, but the steady diet of brutal street fighting makes it all but impossible to connect with this picture, despite whatever visceral appeal it may offer.
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50
The Onion (A.V. Club) Nathan Rabin
It loses its superficial charm during a labored third act that gets bogged down in tired, groan-inducing subplots.
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50
Village Voice Peter L'Official
Hunnam, whose cockney ranges from dodgy to downright Caine-ian, mutes Gary Oldman's bestial mouth-froth (in Clarke's 1988 The Firm), becoming the prettiest, most articulate, bloodthirsty thug ever to put lip to lager.
Read Full Review
50
The Hollywood Reporter John DeFore
Viewers hoping to understand the senseless phenomenon of football hooliganism would do better to rent Alan Clarke's nearly 20-year-old "The Firm."
Read Full Review
50
Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea
A silly melodrama.
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42
Seattle Post-Intelligencer Sean Axmaker
It becomes simply another banal gang film so familiar and predictable you have to wonder why so much potential is wasted on such a confused dramatic mess.
Read Full Review
40
Empire Chris Hewitt
A surprisingly rose-tinted look at a subculture that really should have been stamped out some time ago.
Read Full Review
38
Chicago Tribune Michael Phillips
This is "Fight Club" without the irony or the metaphysical gaming.
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30
Washington Post Desson Thomson
Soccer needs this movie like Georgia needed "Deliverance."
Read Full Review

What Our Users Said

Vote Now!The average user rating for this movie is 8.9 (out of 10) based on 66 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Chris L. gave it a10:
This is one of my favorite movies. Really does a good job of showing English Footballing culture, and has a really good storyline. The one thing I dislike is the American girl whose played by an English girl. They could have found someone way better.

[Anonymous] gave it a0:
How could anyone have enjoyed this film? This film was terrible, with a laughable plot, melodramatic dialog, and sub-standard acting. This film was so predictable it was as if my girlfriend, who watched it with me, was directing the film in real-time from our couch. Boo!!

Economistbr gave it a0:
The is only fun if for those that have fantasies about gang violence or for those that enjoy gang culture. The movie has a weak plot, and passes the idea that getting punched on the face is fun and turns you into a better man. Also the movies sells the idea that a bunch of spoiled teenagers are big time gangsters and that is laughable.

Anna M. gave it a10:
It is one of the best films I ever saw. The main characters are brilliant. The story is full of action!!! The film makes an big impression on me!!!! YOU HAVE TO SEE THIS FILM!!!!!!

James E. gave it a10:
I loved this movie, by far one of my favorites yet. It’s a movie that you can sit and watch over and over. The acting was great, and the plot was full of action. The ending was a bit of a let down though

Mike H. gave it a9:
I don’t care if the plot was recycled or predictable, there was enough grit, character development and brutal action to satiate my appetite. Elijah wood managed to defy his physique to give off the vibe of a street fighter, and the rest of the cast were brilliant also

Kira B. gave it a9:
Green Street Hooligans is a terrifying yet wonderful look into the world of football hooliganism. I was amazed and awed by the normal lives these people live while they are also engaged in such furious bloodthirsty fights. Both Mr. Wood and Mr. Dunnam were wonderfully cast and I loved the character Dunnam portrayed. [***SPOILERS***] I was a little shocked by the ending, as nobody ever likes to see our hero's die, but Matt is careful to live in a way that will honor Pete, and this makes the ending a tribute the good movies.

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