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Looking for Eric review
:. Director: Ken Loach
:. Starring: Eric Cantona, Steve Evets
:. Running Time: 1:59
:. Year: 2009
:. Country: UK
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Ken Loach films are always highly anticipated and knowing that one of the most mythical figures of English soccer plays his own role makes it even more intriguing.
Looking for Eric starts with a simple premise: a post-office employee who struggles with raising two unruly teenage kids and is pushed by his daughter to reconnect with the love of his life decides to take the situation under control, thanks to the assistance of his idol, the legendary footballer of the Manchester United, Eric Cantona.
From having uncanny conversations to coaching a sporting team, the post-office employee regains his strength and solves all his problems, with a particular team spirit. And this is exactly what Looking for Eric is about: solidarity, confidence in teammates and noble values of the sport which are at the heart of life.
Alas, this attempt to gather in one single film all of the director's emblematic themes which made him a household name (social commentary, comedy, family drama, etc …) fails here. The soccer player known for his goofy sense of poetry in real life is confined to playing his own caricature whenever he is onscreen; even when he recites some of the lines that made him famous, the film falls flats, lacking his emblematic sense of spontaneity.
Admittedly, the second degree and derision motivate the footballer-actor to make fun of his image, from playing the trumpet, to dancing a few rock n' roll steps and smoking joints with the post-office employee. But the gimmick based on his appearances is shown too repetitively and systematically to create real appeal. And finally, when he disappears to let the main character occupy the screen, the plot develops more fluidly following rigid principles used in his previous films.
In spite of some truculent scenes, from Cantona's friends imitating him to a robbery using a mask reproducing his face, the film seems to be satisfied with just recycling some good ingredients already used in previous works without offering anything new. A failure.
Moland Fengkov
 Movie Reviews: British Films
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