A former Heavyweight Boxing Champion of the world had his most famous fight in Springfield when he got out of prison to face none other than…Homer Simpson. Sure, he was a Mike Tyson parody, but we respect anyone who can have conversations with Charlie Sheen about sea bass.
It may not have been one of the great teen 1980’s “coming of age” films in the United States, but Gregory’s Girl was just that in Scotland, and in the United Kingdom in general. The “girl” in question is Dorothy, the object of Gregory’s affection and the best player on the soccer team. We have to respect anyone who is the best player on a certain team, but is this film really about the sport? Not really.
Simon Pegg has made a good living in the United Kingdom as the socially unaware, never fulfilled comedic character that you don’t know whether to love or give a backhand to for wrecking his life. In Run, Fatboy, Run, Pegg plays Dennis Doyle a slightly overweight man, who left his fiancé at the altar and has been trying to get her back ever since. When she gets engaged again, it is to an American who will be running the Nike River Run, so Dennis decides even though he is out f shape that he will do the same.
The film is more of a British style RomCom, so we get a few laughs, saw enough of a training montage for a ports film, and he completes the task at the end. Maybe not good enough to make the Hall, but definitely good enough for the ballot!
The English soccer version of the 1974 Burt Reynolds classic, The Longest Yard, saw former English soccer star, Vinnie Jones taking on the main role. For those who are not familiar with Jones, he was a very popular soccer player, known for his toughness and charisma, which translated into a successful film career. As Danny Meehan, in “Mean Machine”, he was a former English Soccer Captain, who found himself in jail due to match fixing. The plot is identical to the ’74 version, but of course with a British flavor making it unique all on its own.