Product Description

After tackling Tony Blair and David Frost, actor Michael Sheen turns to another driven historical figure: football manager Brian Clough. Talented but abrasive, Clough alienates some of those around him, including his rival, Don Revie. When Clough has the chance to coach Leeds, Revie's former team, he takes on the role of the manager of the country's best soccer team. Also starring Timothy Spall, Jim Broadbent, and Colm Meaney, this film marks the fourth time screenwriter Peter Morgan (The Queen, Frost/Nixon) has crafted a character for Sheen.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #72193 in DVD
• Brand: Sony
• Released on: 2010-02-23
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: AC-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, Subtitled, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: Arabic, Dutch, English, French, Spanish
• Dubbed in: French, Spanish
• Dimensions: .20 pounds
• Running time: 98 minutes

Amazon.com
You don't have to like football (or soccer, as we call it in the U.S.) to enjoy The Damned United, because this sharp, funny movie isn't about sports any more than Citizen Kane is about running a newspaper. The Damned United is about ego--specifically, the large and driven ego of Brian Clough (Michael Sheen), the manager of a low-rung football team who, along with his assistant Peter Taylor (the always superb Timothy Spall, Secrets & Lies), brought his team to the top rank. At which point Clough self-destructed, even as he seemed to be given the keys to even greater heights: he was hired as the new manager of Leeds United, perhaps the strongest team in England, replacing his longtime rival Don Revie (Colm Meaney, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine). The Damned United bounces back and forth in time, deftly laying out Clough's rise and fall, transforming a man who initially seems an unbearable, domineering jerk into someone you feel for deeply. After Frost/Nixon and The Queen, Sheen practically specializes in playing real people, but his performance here is utterly stellar, by turns brilliantly comic and subtly moving. The movie lets the relationship between Clough and Taylor unspool organically, until the love and anger between them starts to fray and collapse. This is a riveting and ultimately invigorating story, psychologically compelling and with more twists and turns than a crime thriller. Simply a great movie. --Bret Fetzer


Stills from The Damned United (Click for larger image)