Green Street Hooligans
Short description
Matt Buckner, an American journalism student, is expelled from Harvard for an offense he did not commit. With his plans derailed, he travels to London to stay with his sister Shannon. Through her husband Steve, Matt meets Steve's younger brother Pete Dunham, who leads a football firm, one of the organized groups of hooligans attached to West Ham United. Matt is drawn into their secret world of arranged fights and fierce loyalty, a milieu that is both violent and tightly bonded, and he gradually earns a place among men who defend their club's reputation by any means. His past and his conscience eventually force him to weigh where he belongs.
Lexi Alexander directed and co-wrote the film with Dougie Brimson and Josh Shelov. It was her first feature, followed by Punisher: War Zone, Lifted and Absolute Dominion. Elijah Wood plays Matt, with Charlie Hunnam as Pete, Claire Forlani as Shannon, Marc Warren as Steve, Leo Gregory as Bovver and Geoff Bell as Tommy Hatcher. The production, mounted by Senator International, OddLot Entertainment and Yank Film Finance Limited, was made on a modest budget of about 5 million dollars and took roughly 3 million dollars worldwide.
Audiences have received it well: on IMDb it holds 7.4 out of 10 from around 171,000 votes, and on TMDB 7.3 out of 10 from over 2,600 votes. The film critics' rating stands at 5.8 out of 10 from 64 reviews, noticeably lower than the viewer scores, suggesting a divide between professional and popular response.
What's left behind the scenes
- The filmmakers were allowed to shoot at the West Ham stadium because the club management believed the film would be about football. When they found out (after filming was completed) that the film was about football hooligans, they tried to distance themselves from the project as quickly as possible.
- Cass Pennant played a cameo role: he portrayed one of the police officers at the train station. Cass Pennant was one of the leaders of West Ham's Inter City Firm (ICF) and a well-known football hooligan in the late 1970s.
- The working title of the film was “The Yank.”
- To better prepare for his role, Charlie Hunnam, who played Pete, met with actual members of the Inter City Firm (ICF).
- When Matt goes to watch his first football match, we are told that "West Ham" is playing against "Birmingham." In reality, we are watching the game "West Ham" versus "Gillingham."
- The British title of the film is "Green Street." This street in London was the location of West Ham's Boleyn Ground stadium.
- The actors who played football hooligans underwent a special training course under the guidance of Pat Johnson: the day began with strength training lasting about 2 hours, followed by preparation for fight scenes. After lunch, they rehearsed these scenes, and in the evening they all went to the nearest pub and got drunk.
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