The Damned United
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The Damned United
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A Lot or a Little?
The parents' guide to what's in this movie.
What Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that The Damned United is a heavily fictionalized account of the life of English soccer manager Brian Clough (Michael Sheen) with strong language including discriminatory slurs. Focusing on his short, but turbulent, time managing Leeds United, Clough is among a number of hard-headed characters who clash as a result of their ambition. Clough can also be rude and condescending toward others. As such, the movie does not carry any real positive messages, but does show glimpses of what motivates highly successful people. Violence is infrequent and in a sporting context, sometimes with real-life archive footage showing rough challenges and fist fights that erupted between players. Language is strong and frequent, with variations of "f--k" used throughout. The homophobic slur "poof" is also used, and a character is heard referring to another as a "wandering Jew." Drinking and smoking are common and reflect the movie's late 1960s and early 1970s era, with Clough drinking alone in some scenes as he struggles to confront difficult periods in his career.
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What's the Story?
THE DAMNED UNITED is loosely based on the eventful spell soccer manager Brian Clough (Michael Sheen) spent managing Leeds United.
Is It Any Good?
Adapted from the controversial novel of the same name, this sporting drama enlists a talented cast to bring to life one of the most eventful periods of soccer manager Brian Clough's storied career. Just don't expect The Damned United to be a true-to-life biopic, as many of the events here are compressed, distorted, and even invented for the sake of telling a (more) dramatic story. The action revolves around Clough's brief but memorable stint at Leeds United, with Sheen portraying our lead as relentlessly ambitious but also a man bearing a gnawing grudge against his predecessor, rival manager Don Revie (Colm Meaney).
While the movie sensibly focuses on a relatively short period of Clough's career to tell its story, there's no escaping the liberties it takes with what actually happened, something that is likely to make soccer fans who know their history tune out. What's left is a briskly delivered and well-acted rise and fall redemption story that just happens to revolve around a soccer manager. Sheen's foul-mouthed megalomania keeps things entertaining, though, and it's also a fond reminder of an era of English football that might lack today's abundance of world-class talent, but was a time when underdogs could defy the odds and triumph.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the strong language used in The Damned United. Did it seem necessary or excessive? What did it contribute to the movie?
How was drinking and smoking depicted in the film? Were they glamorized? Do you think our behavior when it comes to drinking and smoking has changed from when the movie was set?
The movie mixes fact and fiction. Why do filmmakers often change history to tell "real-life" stories? How much artistic license do you think movies are entitled to take?
Movie Details
- In theaters: October 9, 2009
- On DVD or streaming: October 20, 2009
- Cast: Michael Sheen, Timothy Spall, Colm Meaney
- Director: Tom Hooper
- Studio: Sony Pictures Classics
- Genre: Drama
- Topics: Sports and Martial Arts, Book Characters, History
- Character Strengths: Perseverance, Teamwork
- Run time: 98 minutes
- MPAA rating: R
- MPAA explanation: language
- Last updated: January 2, 2023
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