Should you have stumbled across the official Web site for "Green Street Hooligans," you would be familiar with the boldly brazen phrase that streaks across your screen: "The movie Hollywood doesn't want you to see."
A few minutes into the film about English soccer gangs (or "firms" as they say east of the Atlantic), it becomes obvious that Green Street Hooligans' official site is misinformed. It's not that Hollywood has an agenda to hide this film, it's that Hollywood doesn't have an interest in this film.
The movie, staring Elijah Wood as Matt Buckner and Claire Forlani as his sister, Shannon, simply lacks any major appeal.
The movie follows our protagonist, Matt, a wide-eyed and innocent college student who is kicked out of Harvard's elite journalism program for a crime he did not commit nor dispute.
Never mind that Harvard doesn't have an elite journalism program (or any journalism program). This is just the catalyst so we can get to the meat of the movie.
With Matt now expelled from Harvard two months before receiving his fictional degree, he decides that the only place for him is England, with his sister, Shannon.
It is here that Matt meets Steve, Shannon's husband (Marc Warren). Within minutes of meeting his brother-in-law, Matt is volunteered by Steve to go to a soccer - oh, excuse me, football - game with Steve's younger brother, Pete (Charlie Hunnam).
Pete, as it turns out, is a soccer (sorry, I did it again - football) hooligan. Football hooligans are members of violent gangs throughout Europe that pledge loyalty to different teams.
West Ham United's gang is the Green Street Elite, whose name is derived from nothing that has to do with football (much like the rest of the movie).
It is with Pete and the Green Street Elite that Matt learns to embrace a violent lifestyle, and with each battered brow and blackened eye becomes a better, more confident man.
"Green Street Hooligans" has several factors working against it. First of all, the movie has no audience. Many Americans don't care much for soccer, and even those that do will find very little of it in the movie.
On the flipside, English moviegoers won't be able to connect with Wood's character, who is not only American, but also not really all that interesting.
Wood brings nothing special to the role of Matt, but, in his defense, he doesn't have much to work with.
It's clear that British writers Lexi Alexander, Dougie Brimson and Josh Shelov had no strong idea of what to do with their American lead, making him alien not only to England but also to the United States.
This is an American written through English eyes, and Wood's talents are wasted on the weakest character of the movie. It's a shame Matt also happens to be the main character.
As the movie progresses, you realize that though Matt is the "hero" of the movie, the real star of the film is Pete.
Alexander, who co-wrote and directed the film, has lived Pete's double-life as a teacher-by-day and hooligan-by-night, and this experience fuels the writing behind Pete's character. This, coupled with Hunnam's amazingly charismatic performance, will only make you scratch your head and ask why they didn't just make the movie about him.
Also worth mention is Warren's performance as Steve, Pete's brother who can barely contain his violent temperament for the better of himself and his new family.
Even though several of Steve's decisions are made only to further the plot, Warren is able to sell all of this with an honest and captivating performance.
Despite Hunnam and Warren's talented performances, the movie's contrived plot and one-dimensional characters will leave you craving better movies that play with the same themes, in particular "Fight Club."
In the end, if Hollywood doesn't want you to see this film, it's only because it wants to spare you.
