My Summer With Des (1998)
Romantic comedy set during the European football championships in 1996, where football fan Martin finds his life is going from bad to worse after losing his job and splitting up with his girlfriend. However, as the football tournament progresses his luck begins to turn, firstly because of England's successes on the pitch, and secondly because of his encounter with a mysterious woman.
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Stylish but barely mediocre overall
A waste of 90 minutes of my life
By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.
The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.
I remember this as a rather odd affair, very male, not particularly woman friendly. A world where blokes are blokey and great, with lovable eccentricities, and women are for ogling - here merely disguised rather than mitigated by romantic pseudo poetic posturing. Rachel Weisz is lovely, but not a real woman, very definitely a male fantasy figure. This felt rather curious, especially when compared with An Evening With Gary Lineker, in which the characters, both male and female, were much better drawn. The attention to detail in the football seemed much better in that other play too, here it seemed rather desultory - a sequence of blokes cheering when goals went in and looking glum when they didn't. To sum up, really rather drippy, almost as wet as Morrissey's mustache as he sipped coffee by the Seine in a ludicrous, introspective setup that a teenager would have been embarrassed to have come up with. Shallow, silly, mooning, wet, not connected to the real world. Check out Lineker - it's much better.
This movie is a definite must see. Even not being a huge fan of football(soccer) this movie held me captivated. Acting is definitely top caliber. Rachel Weisz is absolutely amazing in this movie.
I remember watching this in the excitement of the run up to France '98. I remember little of the plot (some vague memory of a girl, the Holland match, a garden party) except, of course, the match structure. But I do remember enjoying it. Moreover, I remember how it perfectly captured the excitment and hope of Euro '96. I was watching this and almost forgetting how it would inevitably end. I genuinely believed England were going to go all the way despite that niggling memory in the back of my mind.Definately worth checking out if you can, particularly if England's approaching another major tournament :0)
As much to do with remembering a great summer, football provides the backdrop for this amusing comi-drama. Is easy to empathise with a fan getting caught up in the fervour of the tournament and his own fervour with falling for a woman (Rachel Weisz) who seems to mirror England's progress in the tournament.Weisz is as ephemeral as footballing success, particularly as she is a device and not really a woman in this drama, and footballing success is as ephemeral as happiness itself, so the movie reaches a predictable conclusion particularly if you know anything about the tournament. Weisz looks great, the movie has good pace, and it is well enough written to remind anyone of a great summer whether it involved football or not.Worth a look if it crops up.