A young, gifted soccer player who gets into trouble for a petty crime is brought to the attention of former Manchester United coach Matt Busby, who comes out of retirement to help the boy and his teammates.
It’s unashamedly broad, sentimental and clichéd, but Cox anchors proceedings with wit and tenderness, while Smith (who can act and shoot at the same time) adds wonder.
A well-meaning but corny football fable.
Simple-minded.
Sweet while it lasts but fleeting in memory.
Director David Scheinmann recreates the Eighties in exemplary fashion and tells the boy's story with heart and humour.
Cox's guardedly avuncular turn might have sustained a more rigorous endeavour, but the attempt to evoke the trauma of the Munich air disaster is rendered wholly insupportable by the trifling hooey around it.
Suggesting a strong link between Busby’s lingering grief over the Munich Air Disaster of 1958 and Georgie’s loss of a parent feels like a manipulation too far in a formulaic tearjerker.
General release. Check local listings for show times.
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