WITH a fanciful premise that's a little at odds with its social-realist shooting style and a naive, feel-good ending that wouldn't be out of place in a Hollywood movie, Ken Loach's latest effort is the kind of film that demands and requires your indu
lgence to get any real enjoyment out of it. That, of course, is assuming you're not a rabid Eric Cantona fan who can't get enough of the philosophising French football legend who dominated Manchester United in the 1990s. If you are, this could be your new favourite film.
Yes, in one of the more curious cinematic collaborations of recent years, Cantona is the producer and star of Looking for Eric, appearing at regular intervals as a guardian angel of sorts for another Eric: a depressed South Manchester postman and Cantona-worshipping football fan in need of guidance to get his life back on track.
Lumbered with two grown-up step-children from his failed second marriage, and weighed down with regret over his first marriage's failure, Eric Bishop (Steve Evets) is on the verge of a nervous breakdown when a spliff-induced hallucination gives him a direct line to his hero. Like Woody Allen's Humphrey Bogart-obsessed protagonist in Play it Again, Sam, Eric's idol turns up in physical form to offer him advice whenever life gets too much for him. The kick here is seeing how Eric deciphers Cantona's impenetrable anecdotes, unravelling meaning from layers of obfuscation and then applying it to his desperate situation.
It's here the film also runs into trouble. As Eric's step-son gets in deep with a local gun-wielding gangster, it signals an abrupt shift in tone that sees the gentle comedy slide into the bleak territory explored in previous Loach films such as Sweet Sixteen. It feels like a defensive move by Loach; as if he's lost confidence in the more adventurous and whimsical style he begins the film with.
It also makes the upbeat ending a little hard to swallow. However, that ending leaves you with a smile and, in keeping with the team spirit-enhancing lesson of Cantona's self-confessed career highlight – a perfect pass, rather than a goal – the footballer graciously cedes the limelight to Evets, whose tender performance makes accepting the film's many flaws an easier proposition.
The full article contains 404 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
