X
- 2003
- PG-13
- Searchlight Pictures
- 1 h 52 m
- 2003
- PG-13
- Searchlight Pictures
- 1 h 52 m
Summary A British film about a teenage girl named Jess (Nagra) living in London who must make a choice between following the traditions of her Indian family or pursuing her dream of becoming a soccer sensation. (Fox Searchlight)
Directed By: Gurinder Chadha
Written By: Guljit Bindra, Paul Mayeda Berges, Gurinder Chadha
- 2003
- PG-13
- Searchlight Pictures
- 1 h 52 m
- 2003
- PG-13
- Searchlight Pictures
- 1 h 52 m
Bend It Like Beckham
66
6.8
Where to Watch
Summary A British film about a teenage girl named Jess (Nagra) living in London who must make a choice between following the traditions of her Indian family or pursuing her dream of becoming a soccer sensation. (Fox Searchlight)
Directed By: Gurinder Chadha
Written By: Guljit Bindra, Paul Mayeda Berges, Gurinder Chadha
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally favorable
Based on 36 Critic Reviews
66
69% Positive
25 Reviews
25 Reviews
28% Mixed
10 Reviews
10 Reviews
3% Negative
1 Review
1 Review
Metascore
Generally favorable
Based on 36 Critic Reviews
66
69% Positive
25 Reviews
25 Reviews
28% Mixed
10 Reviews
10 Reviews
3% Negative
1 Review
1 Review
The most exhilarating movie so far this year. It's made up of many familiar elements -- think ''Monsoon Wedding'' meets ''My Beautiful Laundrette'' meets ''Personal Best'' -- yet before long, you catch on to how buoyant and funny and original it is.
Pure, undiluted joy.
User Score
Generally favorable
Based on 56 User Ratings
6.8
57% Positive
32 Ratings
32 Ratings
36% Mixed
20 Ratings
20 Ratings
7% Negative
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
User Score
Generally favorable
Based on 56 User Ratings
6.8
57% Positive
32 Ratings
32 Ratings
36% Mixed
20 Ratings
20 Ratings
7% Negative
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
A frequently fun buddy film, an inspiring coming of age story, and an interracial romance story. Bend It Like Beckham lives up to its surprisingly symbolic title.
Report
As the movie breathlessly cuts back and forth from a boisterous wedding celebration to a high-stakes soccer match, even the grumpy cynics will have been won over.
Like the rest of the film, Beckham's climax is surprisingly satisfying, however, in large part because director Gurinder Chadha films the competing big game and big fat Indian wedding of Nagra's sister with equivalently bursting levels of color, panache, and verve.
An energetic, feel-good blend of comedy, romance and benign drama -- with a side dish of social commentary -- that works despite its strict adherence to the culture clash/generation gap formula.
Its cheery inoffensiveness, though, is in some ways disappointing.
Only silent Becks himself rises unstained from this reheated ethno-niche stew.
This is a pretty decent feel good film about female teenage cultural rebellion, in relation to Jas (Jasminder, played by Parminder Nagra) and I'd also say it has a nice amount of warmhearted defiance present. I liked seeing Keira Knightley in such an early film role. It challenges adults (more specifically, teenage parents) assumptions and it does this pretty well. It is a little dated now, in terms of the fashions and so on but of course thats inevitable, given the film dates from 2002.
Its nice to see a pretty mainstream British film which features an Indian teenager as one of the main characters and her wider Indian family as, I suppose, there hadn't previously been a great amount of that seen in most mainstream British films, although I could be wrong but in any case I enjoyed the film and I would recommend it.
Report
Production Company
Kintop Pictures,
UK Film Council,
Filmförderung Hamburg,
British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB),
British Screen Productions,
Helkon Media,
The Works,
Scion Films,
Bend It Films,
Roc Media,
Road Movies Filmproduktion,
Future Films,
Redbus Pictures
Release Date Mar 12, 2003
Duration 1 h 52 m
Rating PG-13
Tagline Who wants to cook Aloo Gobi when you can bend a ball like Beckham?
Awards
Golden Globes, USA
• 1 Nomination
Bordeaux International Festival of Women in Cinema
• 4 Wins & 4 Nominations
Empire Awards, UK
• 3 Nominations
