Bend It Like Beckham
--Lauren Burke
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Even though the new comedy Bend it Like Beckham premiered internationally slightly before My Big Fat Greek Wedding opened stateside, comparisons are inevitable. Whether you pick up a newspaper, turn on the radio or decide to catch up on your must-see TV, you're bound to be met with the catchphrase, "If you loved My Big Fat Greek Wedding, you're going to love Bend it Like Beckham." It's a sad statement considering the only thing these two movies have in common is...well...nothing.
Co-written and directed by award-winning filmmaker Gurinder Chadha (What's Cooking? and Bhaji on the Beach), Bend it Like Beckham colorfully tells the tale of a Sikh couple who fled from Uganda to England couple living in London who try in vain to keep their soccer-obsessed daughter Jess (Parminder Nagra) off the field and in the kitchen. Jess wants desperately to play "footie" professionally like her idol David Beckham, but her traditional parents want her married to a respectable Indian boy like her older sister Pinky (Archie Panjabi). When Jess makes an all-girl soccer team and unexpectedly falls for Joe (Jonathan Rhys-Meyers), the young Irish coach, she finds herself torn between living out her dream and obeying the wishes of her parents.
Bend it Like Beckham is chock-full of every plot-propelling cliché known to man. There's the love interest, the conflict keeping the love interest at a distance, the ambitious main character, and the conflict keeping the main character from reaching their goal. Then there's the soccer scout who comes to the big game but will the ambitious, lovelorn, main character make the final point for her team and achieve her dream of making it big? Five minutes into this film and you already have the outcome pegged. It's like Rudy, only with a different kind of football (as soccer is called abroad). Yet, it's the unpredictability of the obstacles Jess faces while chasing her dream that make her journey and the film inspiring.
Indian culture hasn't exactly been examined thoroughly in mainstream cinema, let alone British Indian culture, the casual diversity amongst the characters set the film apart and is a refreshing change of pace. So regardless of your own cultural background, it's easy to relate to Jess, her problems with inner conflict, love, and family are universal as are the other character's issues.
Nagra is the only unfamiliar face in Beckham (save Bollywood actor Anupam Kher), and I have a hunch we'll be seeing a lot more of this stunningly beautiful young actress in the future. The performances are what make Bend it Like Beckham work, even in it's most convenient moments, like the familiar "are they or aren't they" moment when there's a question as to whether Jess and her friend Jules (Kiera Knightly) might be lesbians, which nonetheless gets a fresh, new spin with Jules' mother's (Juliet Stevenson) reaction.
After a successful run overseas, Bend it Like Beckham has finally ventured across the pond to the United States where's it's being met with glowing reviews. While it may be a popcorn movie filled with quirky sitcom-like moments, Bend it Like Beckham is still uplifting and optimistic; an inspiring story for the young women in the crowd and a lesson in culture for everyone.
(5 of 8)