The Penalty King
The Penalty King
| 07 November 2006 (USA)
The Penalty King Trailers

Lee, a soccer player who descends into depression when he goes blind, is encouraged to take up the game again by a maverick American and the inspiration of Leeds Utd legend, Billy Bremner.

Reviews
Diagonaldi Very well executed
Livestonth I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible
Marva-nova Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.
Ortiz Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.
Paul-Stuart-Lewis-Yates Having your eyesight removed from you is one of the many challenges in life.Our protagonist of the story dreams of his days on the football pitch, but is clearly too proud to say really what he wants, helped wonderfully by his friend the moment he says: "I guess it's time for that damn good kick about."The Penalty King is a touching subtle story of camaraderie amongst men. Finding a place in society, the working man has a life outside of work; this is wonderfully portrayed in the movie by the footballers, not to mention the evil boss from hell who bans "toys with a synthetic oral capability" - a crude reminder of the health and safety world in which we live today.This story is a joy from start to finish, carried along with great subtle humour, touching upon many down to earth social issues of the working class. In my opinion, this film really appreciates the aesthetics of British society and its complexities, in a way that only someone that has lived in this country long enough could come up with. It has a positive outlook and a great insight into our country for anyone unfamiliar with the British way of life.
Kay Setterfield The Penalty King tells the story of Lee who is a blind football fan, and his friend Charlie and how he gets Lee to love the Beautiful game again! I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed the Penalty King, as usually a film about football would not be my first choice, but I think this film would appeal to football fans and non fans, as it is a strong character driven piece with a great, and very humorous in places script.Though the film is of a lower budget, it has a high quality feel to it,by using lots of shooting locations,past Leeds games footage, and a good use of soundtrack.Overall I found the Penalty King to be a funny uplifting movie, which is made more enjoyable by the buddy relationship between the central characters Lee and Charlie.
Charlie Campbell I had the pleasure of actually being in this, albeit as an extra. I was the tall chav with glasses when Lee was being hassled by the beach.The crew were all very friendly, as were the cast (those of which I met). It was a good day, despite the fact that I am devoid of all footballing talent! I first actually saw the film at its Brighton premiere, and enjoyed it thoroughly. I can recommend it to anyone, even if they're not football fans. I'm certainly not.Chris is a marvellous director, not to mention a very nice man. He performed a marvel in developing this movie, almost literally done on a shoestring.Keep an eye out for him in future.
Daniel Varley You've got to see this movie! Upon first preview, I was forewarned that this movie would 'take you to places never gone to before' but not exactly in the sort of Capt. Kirk kind of way, whilst reading reviews of a future 'cult classic', ladies and gentlemen... they weren't wrong, this movie IS just brilliant! Main protagonist Lee Vaughan is stuck in a job far away from his native north, a job so grim it could possibly qualify as a top feature on TVs 'Life of Grime' so very well. Can it get any worse for this lad? We haven't even started, he happens to support a certain football team, one so illustrious that they broke the mould when it comes to a record 'riches to rags' tale, but oh boy, did they have some glorious moments, moments which he dreams will one day return as did our hero on the pitch himself for his old pub football team.These moments are so brilliantly brought back to life through gritty yet hilarious flashbacks as he yearns for 'a damn good kick about'! But being blind this creates a few problems for Lee. These scenes are so well crafted using old and new footage so well weaved together in a way very rarely, if ever, seen before in recent cinema. Can it really get any worse for Lee… oh yes, he meets a yank, one who knows nothing of football, who's gonna put our hero Lee 'The Penalty King' back on the pitch and back into action! Once you're in, you're hooked! This movie is so well crafted by director and writer Chris Cook, it's not easy to begin to describe where it's all come from, but it takes you on such a bizarre and beautiful journey. The way its put together and so well acted that you just have to stay with it… very much like… dare I say it as the World Cup is upon us… like watching our favourite team go to penalties, and that my friends is where we come in. There are touches of 'Brassed Off' with smatterings of 'Run Lola Run' a dash of 'Shooting Fish' and a very healthy portion of… what has already had a mentioned and dare I say it again - Brit cult classic 'Withnail & I'.The Penalty King is going to hit you right between the eyes; you're going to love this movie!