Bend It Like Beckham Movie Review:


For those of us on the west-side of the Atlantic, David Beckham isn’t a household name. But for fans of soccer in Britain, David Beckham is probably the biggest celebrity on the pitch.

In the new comedy, Bend it Like Beckham, Jesminder Bhamra (Parminder K. Nagra) wants to be just like Beckham. She dreams of scoring goals and becoming the greatest woman’s soccer player ever. She has his poster above her bed and wears his soccer jersey everywhere. Her parents are beside themselves since they want their daughter to be a proper Sikh girl and get married. Furthermore they don’t want her to play soccer.

One day while kicking the ball with a bunch of guys in the park, Jess meets Jules (Kiera Knightley) who tells her of an all-girls soccer league. Jules so wants Jess to join but Jesminder’s parents forbid it. Jess decides if she is going to pursue her dream she needs to find a way without her parents knowing. Maybe one day they will embrace her pursuits. How will Jesminder’s sister’s impending wedding affect her soccer career? How and when will her parents find out? More importantly, does Jess have a chance at achieving her dream? Jules thinks so.

“Bend it Like Beckham” is one of those little gems that if you blink you are sure to miss. The comedy has a delightful mix of culture clashes and enduring characters. No matter if you are Muslim, Hindi, Christian or Jewish, you will relate to these characters. They have such universal charm. It’s amazing when a film can punch through such culture boundaries and make us all smile. Especially when we need to see how much humanity there is in every culture.

The performances of both Nagra and Knightley are enduring and a huge delight to watch. They have a fresh and charismatic approach on film. I really enjoyed the scenes that contrasted the girls with their mothers. How their mothers and the girls are like night and day.

Both girls seem to be also going places. Nagra is moving on to “Ella Enchanted” with Cary Elwes and Patrick Bergin and look for Knightley this summer in the blockbuster “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl” with Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom.

I had a couple small problems with the film. There are a lot of characters in the film and it’s hard to decipher how some of them fit in. There were also some small lags in the film that probably could have been trimmed.

For the most part, “Beckham” is a pure delight and showcases two bright young actresses for the future. This is third East Indian comedy that I have seen that keeps surprising me. The other East Indian comedies are “East is East” and “Monsoon Wedding”.

In a time of unrest and a world gripped by war, it is amazing to see a little comedy that embraces the unique and beautiful side of culture. Maybe we can learn from this.

(4 of 5)

So Says the Soothsayer

Dean Kish

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