- Title: Bend It Like Beckham
- IMDb: link
Parminder Nagra and Keira Knightley star in this 2002 sports dramedy as two young women striving to fulfill their dreams of playing soccer despite the disapproval of each of their mothers. Impressed by seeing her play in the park with local boys, Jules (Knightley) recruits Jess (Nagra) to play for the amateur women’s football team. Despite her parents’ (Anupam Kher and Shaheen Khan) disapproval and near-total focus on her sister’s (Archie Panjabi) impending wedding, Jess decides to play in secret.
Most of the film’s conflict comes from Jess’ attempts to defend, or hide, her playing football from her parents. While Jules gets some support from her father (Frank Harper), her mother (Juliet Stevenson) isn’t much better fearing her daughter is far too sporty and masculine for her own good. There’s also a bit of drama between the new best friends concerning a mutual attraction for the team’s coach (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) who Jules has been carrying a torch for but has eyes only for the team’s new player.
The film spends quite a bit of time celebrating Indian culture while also Jess’ love of football and the struggle she feels being pulled between the conservative traditions of her family and her dreams. This is never more evident than in the film’s final act where we see sequences of the wedding and the team’s final match intercut together in glorious simultaneous celebration.
There are some stumbling blocks along the way such as the back-and-forth swings in Jess’ sister about her new hobby which feel more plot driven than natural reactions and the completely over-the-top gay panic of Jules’ mother mistaking her daughter’s interest in sports and close friendship with another girl (which certainly hasn’t aged well). Thankfully, these are minor complaints as Bend It Like Beckham is a thoroughly enjoyable film with a big heart that unapologetically embraces and celebrates cultural differences, women’s sports, friendship, and love. And the soccer scenes aren’t too shabby, either.
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