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"I was expecting Cornflakes and a quick wank. Instead I got some nutter in a Stone Island jumper with a blade in my face."

-- Tommy Johnson (Danny Dyer)

It would seem that a lot of the top film sites are reluctant to fully review this portrayal of British thug culture, as if they are dismissing it as a simple glorification of the common British football lout.

That's one way to view it. On the other hand, you can view The Football Factory as a realistic representation of the "lad culture" of Great Britain. Beyond the obvious fist fights, the stereotypical male fuels his ego with beer, football and connections with large groups of overbuilt men, as a method of overruling the differences that they see as a threat in society -- this is their method for obtaining some form of control and power.

Nick Love's clever handling of the subject, however, means that we aren't asked to admire these hooligans; rather, we are supposed to analyse the negative effect that these people are having upon the society around us, in a bid to stand our ground and fight for ourselves.

The film is shot in a documentary style, focusing upon two main firms: The Headhunters of Chelsea and The Bushwackers of the violently-popular Millwall. Tommy Johnson (Danny Dyer) is the main character of the story, who lives for the weekend, casual sex, watered down lager, heavily-cut drugs and occasionally kicking the fuck out of somebody -- and suddenly, he has begun questioning if it is really all worth it.

The Football Factory's  common downfall is its realism. The film's authenticity is ugly: Everything from the clothes, language and music reeks of the British thug, and this won't appeal to anyone other than previous/existing firm members or those who have an interest in social realism. The casual film watcher is not supposed to like these characters, however, but at least be intrigued by Nick Love's exploration of their everyday lives and the disruptive effect that they're having. The fact is there are people like Tommy Johnson out there in our society as we speak, and the film attempts to depict the culture they're part of.

Even though The Football Factory's target audience is thin, I do believe that it is a pretty powerful piece of British, urban filmmaking. While it really achieves nothing in terms of any psychological depth to the English's obsession with football violence, it does at least study racism, the different generations of war, and how people require a sense of belonging. What really made it watchable to me were the touches of humour given to each of these subjects. Some of the dialogue I found particularly amusing in places, which (strangely) gave an element of charm to all of the violence, making it a pretty entertaining film all round.

Admittedly, I don't think even Nick Love believes that the football hooligan's mind is up to much (he'd be right), which is why there is no moral ending to the film. When Johnson asks himself once again "If it was all worth it?" he replies "Course it fucking was," -- this is the painful reality of what we are experiencing.

All in all, the The Football Factory made me hate the football thugs even more, so, in that sense, it definitely succeeded with me.

(C) Andy Carrington, 2008.