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A quickfire, unpretentious Spanish comedy, Football Days centres around ex-con and wannabe psychiatrist Antonio (Ernesto Alterio). When his sister (Natalia Verbeke) dumps his best mate Jorge (Alberto San Juan), Antonio spies a head start to his head-shrinking and cajoles their old football team into getting back together. Over the hill, entirely without talent or commitment, only their fear of their captain will stop them from quitting. That, and the thought of having to spend more time with their wives and girlfriends.
Away from the half-hearted slapstick on the pitch, subplots abound - a handful of sweetly turned romances, some nicely written tragi-comic interludes, the kidnapping of a pig to be trained for a career in the movies. But mostly we watch these childlike men and their patient but fearsome women battle wits with the miseries and triumphs of their everyday world of love, sex, work, friendships, and plans gone awry.
"INSPIRATIONALLY SUSTAINED SWEARING"
In the middle third is where the film hits its best form, nailing scene after scene of high-paced farce with fizzing dialogue (there's also some inspirationally sustained and varied swearing). The pace dips, though, towards the final whistle; the plot losing a little focus in an overabundance of one-note characters, while a tendency to end a scene by having everyone shout at each other means the killer pass goes astray a few times too often. Still, a comedy that makes you laugh and care, Football Days easily deserves its three points.
I thought it was a fabulous film. I could see it again!
