Looking For Eric Blu-ray Review

Come for the Eric, stay for the Blu-ray.

It is with regret that I must inform you that there are no foals, voles, bowls, shoals or holes in this film.

On the plus side, there are a few goals, but to be honest it’s not really about that.

Gritty northern improv-master Ken Loach delivers us a tale of redemption, gangsters, football and, joy of joys, (Ooh-ahh) Eric Cantona. Will it be back of the net, or left back in the changing rooms? In order to answer this question, I watched the film, then wrote about it, then posted it on here.

You might as well have a read, now that you’ve come this far.

STORYTELLING:  
Depressive postman Eric Smith is feeling sorry for himself. Living in a shoddy terrace with his two tearaway stepsons, he mourns for the life he could have had.

Bitterly disappointed in himself, he has taken on the air of one who has given up hope of ever achieving happiness. Even his usually reliable group of mates at the local post sorting office can’t cheer him up.

Then one day, just as everything seems to be getting on top of him, with stacks of undelivered mail threatening to burst out of the cubby holes in which he has hidden them and his rebellious teenage sons on the verge of turning from mere wayward adolescents into full-time Manchester crims, something unexpectedly magical happens.

Eric Cantona, King Eric, “the greatest footballer what ever lived” appears in his bedroom.

What follows is a heart warming tale of returning from the brink and the power of friendship. Loach successfully eliminates any residual warm fuzziness, associated with the presence of Cantona’s magical appearance as Evets’ ‘guardian spirit’, by injecting a dose of gangster and gun violence, which allows Eric Bishop’s story to unfold without lapsing into daft fantasy.

This, believe it or not, is a Ken Loach movie. In some respects you can tell – the harsh ‘kitchen sink’ northern realism and the naturalism of the performances are obvious trademarks of his and they’re here, front and centre. But what marks this out as an unusual Loach flick is the introduction of a sort of psychological magic to the mix.

We never know for sure why Cantona appears for Eric (although the fact that he smokes copious amounts of his son’s hidden hash stash is a strong indicator), but when it happens it’s as real to us as it is to him.

Although this film’s USP is the presence of Cantona, the Roi lui-meme only actually plays a rather minor role in the grand scheme of things. Dominating the film is the superb performance from Steve Evets as Eric Bishop.

As ever, the actors in ‘Looking for Eric’ have been given a loose reign by Loach, and allowed to improvise around their characters and scenes, talking over each other, adding extra depth and believability to their roles. Evets makes this look effortless.

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