The Stage

TV Review: Ray lights up football drama

Published Tuesday 16 May 2006 at 10:35

As a warm up to the summer’s festival of world football, Channel 4 brought us the drama All In The Game, the story of Frankie the football manager.

Frankie’s personal school of soccer science involved bullying, cheating, swindling, lying, blackmailing and swearing. Particularly swearing, which was of almost heroic proportions and included frequent use of the C-word (and I don’t mean Chelsea). Indeed, there were times when Frankie’s profanities far outweighed his dialogue. I was reminded of the Two Ronnies news report about how fighting between United and City fans was interrupted for 90 minutes when 22 footballers invaded the pitch.

Ray Winstone played Frankie, as a man forever on the edge of an apoplexy and it made for a compelling, disturbing and occasionally comic sight. Winstone didn’t so much chew the scenery as swallow it whole, regurgitate it and gob it back at the audience. Once I had got over the disconcerting feeling that I was watching Ray Winstone doing a Ray Winstone impersonation, it was an exhilarating roller coaster ride of a performance.

Frankie was such a remorseless study in excess that when we eventually caught a fleeting glimpse of the man beneath the monster it was all the more affecting. After managing his beloved club to relegation, selling on their superstar 17-year en route and being discovered with his fingers in the till, Frankie is finally sacked by the weak and vacillating chairman. His initial response is disbelief, swiftly followed by a waterfall of tears, accompanied by begging and pleading. When this fails, Frankie reverts to streetfighting mode and attempts a bit of blackmail.

There were other sub-plots to All In The Game, including Frankie’s relationship with his wide-boy son Danny, a fans vendetta against the chairman and a washed up apprentice in a young offenders institute but it was Frankie you wanted to watch. Without him it would have been like watching England without Rooney.

Funniest show of the week was International Outtakes, a snappy and wittily assembled compilation of clips featuring politicians’ gaffes from around the world. George W was well represented but even his utterances appeared Churchillian compared to Dan Quayle’s speech on “Hitlerism” at a Holocaust memorial rally. Momentarily forgetting whose side the USA was on, Quayle declared it “a dark period in our nation’s history”.

Two new sitcoms launched this week. Feel The Force stars Michelle Gomez and Rosie Cavaliero as bumbling police officers. Bumbling is pretty much the only character the actors are given by Georgia Pritchett’s disappointing script but they are such great performers that they almost pull it off. But not quite.

Feel The Force has its moments but it falls between two stools, existing in a world that is neither realistic nor surreal.

Grown Ups is far more promising. The premise is hardly high concept - twentysomething brother and sister share a flat but the writing is clever, the characters endearing and the jokes consistently funny. Sheridan Smith, playing just the right side of sweet, leads an impressive cast.

Details

All in the Game C4, 9pm, Thursday May 11

International Outtakes BBC3, 9.30pm, Tuesday May 9

Feel the Force BBC2, 10pm, Monday May 8

Grown Ups BBC3, 10pm, Tuesday May 9