404. Finding Jack Charlton; movie review
FINDING JACK CHARLTON
Cert 12A
90 mins
BBFC advice: Contains infrequent strong language, bloody images, racist language
Do you remember when footballers came from working-class towns and were hard as nails?
One of the first FA Cup finals I watched was between Chelsea and the team we knew as 'dirty Leeds'.
They had a 'win at all costs' ethos and their enforcers were Billy Bremner, Norman 'Bites Yer Legs' Hunter and Jack Charlton.
Big Jack had been a member of England's team which sank West Germany in the 1966 World Cup final.
He was the steel in a national team which also included his younger brother Bobby, a player renowned for flair rather than fighting.
Jack was a different kettle of fish - an opinionated hard man who went on to be a highly successful manager on the international stage.
Sadly, that famous outspokenness had long disappeared before he died in the summer because he had been stricken by dementia.
Directed by Gabriel Clarke and Pete Thomas, Finding Jack Charlton features key characters from its subject's life and career.
It is very personal because there are extended contributions from his family and they dovetail with those from the worlds of football, music, film and politics.
Charlton was a celebrated player, notching up the appearance record for Leeds United as well as receiving 35 England caps.
But it was as a manager that he would make an even greater mark.
He began in English league football with varying degrees of success but it was as Ireland boss that his legacy was created.
The film explores how he was given the job in the mid-1980s when the Troubles in Northern Ireland were at their low point and how badly appointing an Englishman was received.
It became even more questionable when he drafted in players who only qualified for the Irish team through descendants.
But the Irish fans soon lost their disgruntlement when Charlton took their team to heights which it had never experienced before and has not since.
The odyssey with the Irish team is documented in great detail but, alas Jack, in his later years could remember none of it.
And the real skill of these movie-makers is laying his glory alongside his defeat to dementia.
His condition is handled with empathy but the devastating effect on a very strong man is certainly not soft-soaped.
It is heartbreaking to watch him admit that he had no recollection of big games as he sees them on video or did he understand how important he was to so many people including the Irish who gave him honorary citizenship.
Nevertheless, the facts are what they are. Jack Charlton was a legend both on and off the pitch.
Reasons to watch: A heady combination of joy and sadness
Reasons to avoid: Upsetting scenes
Laughs: Two
Jumps: None
Vomit: None
Nudity: Yes
Overall rating: 9/10
Baca Juga
Did you know? In 1967, Jack Charlton replaced his brother Bobby as English Footballer of the Year,
The final word. Gabriel Clarke: “I was thinking of Jack in the broader sense of what he achieved with Ireland and how it was transformational for the country. That was the original premise for the film.” The Irish Post
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