Looking for Eric

Eric Bishop is a Manchester postman whose life has come apart. His two stepsons are caught up in petty crime, his daughter has lost patience with him, and he has never gotten over walking out on Lily, the woman he loved, twenty-five years earlier. As a devoted Manchester United supporter, he turns for guidance to his idol, Éric Cantona, and the former player begins appearing to him and offering advice on how to face his problems and repair what he can.

Ken Loach directed the film, the fourteenth of the twenty features listed for him in chronological order, following To Each His Own Cinema and preceding Route Irish, from a screenplay by Paul Laverty. Steve Evets plays Eric Bishop, with Cantona appearing as himself and Stephanie Bishop, Gerard Kearns, Stefan Gumbs and Lucy-Jo Hudson among the credited cast of thirty-eight. Gerardo Herrero produced the Belgium, United Kingdom, Spain, Italy and France co-production.

Released in 2009 and running 116 minutes, the comedy-drama with fantasy elements was made for about six million dollars and took roughly twelve million worldwide. On IMDb it holds a critics' rating of 7.1 from 102 reviews, while on TMDB it has a rating of 6.5 from 378 votes. The gap between the two suggests critics responded to it somewhat more warmly than the general audience did.