Green Street Hooligans (2005)

Elijah Wood puts down his Hobbit sword and picks up his fists in the violent and fascinating, but ultimately heavy-handed, “Green Street Hooligans,” a film about a Yank sucked in by English football firms. But football, I mean soccer. By firms, I mean street gangs that battle royale for their teams.

Wood plays Matt Buckner, a Harvard journalism major bounced out of university for drugs. Matt’s a patsy: Taking the hit for his dorm roommate, a rich boy with political power. Matt sulks his way to England to visit his sister (Claire Forlani), who has a husband, a baby and a spectacular home. She also has brother-in-law (Charlie Hunnam) who is a firm leader.

Matt tags along with Pete for a football match, and before the day is through, finds himself brawling. “Who do you hate,” asks Pete of Matt, who knows who he hates. Matt bleeds. Matt draws blood. Matt’s hooked. For the first time Matt feels like a man alive, his own personal double-decker “Fight Club” vacation. With warm beer and whiskey.

“Green” excels at showing a world I’ve never seen: Lower-class blokes who are poor, lonely or tragic, and place their passions and lives into a sport. Crazy? Yes. But it’s all they have. Alas, the film goes sentimental.

A grisly finale is accompanied by a sappy song, and Wood reads some narration – there’s a time to fight and a time to run – that is older than soccer. Sorry, football. Rich boy gets his comeuppance, of course. But the plot strand is tired: The guy is one of those smarmy coke-head country club Republicans that were cliché when John Belushi started a food fight. Wood makes the film work, remarkably so, making Matt a believable guy you’d meet in a bar. Just don’t call football soccer. B