Coming-of-age comedy 'Bend It' is on the ball
By Rene Rodriquez
Knight Ridder Newspapers
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| London teenager Jess Bjamra (Parminder K. Nagra) dreams of playing soccer like her hero David Beckham in the new comedy film "Bend It Like Beckham," which will be screened tonight as part of the Hawai'i International Film Festival's spring event.
'Bend It Like Beckham'
PG-13, for foul language and sexual content 112 minutes |
The title of the British "Bend It" refers to soccer star David Beckham's distinctively twisty kicking style (an American equivalent might be "Smack It Like Bonds" or "Frappe It Like Martha"). The movie is about two girls whose families disapprove of their interest in sports. Both dream of winning the championship and earning scholarships to American universities (men's soccer is bigger in England, but, thanks to Mia Hamm, women's is bigger here).
"Bend It's" appeal rests on the shoulders of the actresses who play the girls: Keira Knightley, whose mom (amusingly played by Juliet Stevenson) tells her "No boy is going to want to go out with a girl who has muscles as big as him," and Parminder K. Nagra, who is fresh and captivating as a daughter who rebels against her orthodox Sikh parents. The culture clash within her family is sensitively depicted, so we understand the viewpoints of everybody (even though we're apt to agree with Nagra), which makes for sharp, funny storytelling.
The whole movie is so buoyant that it feels like picking nits to point out that the only reason "Bend it" makes the girls fight over a boy is to assure us, offensively, that they aren't lesbians. Or to mention that Knightley is stiff. Or that the script is obvious and synthetic (the minute a coach warns a player, "You'll injure yourself," she, of course, does). Or that the feel-good ending is so insistent that it's more like a feel-used ending.
It's possible that none of these things will prevent you from liking "Bend It Like Beckham," which is already being compared to "Big Fat Greek Wedding," a film it has zippo in common with except this: Even at its worst moments, it's so likable that you're willing to convince yourself it's better than it is.
