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Hot on the heels of The Football Factory  comes another attempt at understanding the British thug sub-culture. This time (in an obvious attempt to increase American awareness) Elijah Wood is cast at the centre of it all, playing a Harvard-journalism-student-turned-hard-edged-football-hooligan. Sound ridiculous? It pretty much is.

Green Street is not a hugely terrible film, but it is a difficult one to take seriously. Matt Buckman (Wood) is wrongfully expelled from College and decides to jump aboard a plane to London to visit his sister (Claire Forlani) and her husband, Steve (Marc Warren). Soon enough, Matt starts hitting the local pubs and going to "soccer" games with Steve's bad boy brother, Pete (Charlie Hunnam), becoming closely involved with the GSE firm (a supposed imitation of West Ham's notorious Inter-City Firm). Fights break out on a regular basis and he becomes known as "The Yank" to rival firms, developing a steady reputation for himself over time.

As an actor, it is understandable why Wood would take on such a role (he obviously wants to prove that he has a bit of diversity to his acting abilities); Green Street, however, wasn't a good move for him. Granted, the premise of the film is to show the transition of a geeky student to football hooligan, but Wood fails to make his character seem interesting or believable, with his squeakingly-boyish looks being the dominant feature throughout. The guy just comes across as completely laughable when it comes to the physical confrontations.

That said, even if Wood's character had been played by another actor, Green Street still wouldn't have been a good film. The acting overall seems very stiff, with Charlie Hunnam's cockney accent, in particular, being just awful; and the fight scenes are unspectacular, also. I could maybe have gotten over these issues if the plot had been that little bit engaging; however, Green Street generally comes across cartooney and comical without ever trying to be.

If you want a decent "hooligan flick", then I suggest watching The Football Factory, The Firm, or I.D. -- all vastly superior (and believable) portrayals of football violence.

(C) Andy Carrington, 2008.