It's not a total 180 -- there is still working-class despair, and a fair share of violence, some of it related to football and guns. But it leaves you with a smile on your face, for the right reasons.
Comment
11/09/09
Looking for Eric (2009)
88
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:42
Fresh:37
Rotten:5
Average Rating:7.3/10
Consensus: Ken Loach’s latest is an uplifting, entertaining and amusing socio-drama featuring a match-winning performance from Eric Cantona.
Runtime: 1 hr 56 mins
Genre: Comedies
Synopsis: Eric the postman is slipping through his own fingers... His wife has gone, his stepsons are out of control and the house was chaotic even before a cement mixer appeared in the front garden. Life... [More]
Starring: Steve Evets, Stephanie Bishop, Gerard Kearns, John Henshaw
Director: Ken Loach
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Reviews for Looking for Eric
If it is ultimately a bit on the shallow side, that conclusion doesn't seem to matter much at the end of the film's frequently hilarious 116 minutes.
10/13/09
When the whistle blows on this rather unlikely Ken Loach film, they'll be plenty of cheers at the result, but also a sense that it's been a bit of an inconsistent game!
09/25/09
The result is the closest he has ever come to making a beautiful film.
09/24/09
Ken Loach's latest film, starring football star Eric Cantona, is funny, tender, surprising and very wise.
09/24/09
Loach looks like he's having fun here (and it's contagious), weaving a comic thread of magic realism into an otherwise familiar study of working-class characters struggling to pull together.
09/24/09
It would be unthinkable for Britain's Ken Loach to make a film without some social purpose, but at 72, he's made the funniest film of his long career.
09/24/09
Despite strong performances, this is, in the end, minor Loach.
09/23/09
A far more upbeat film from usually gritty director Ken Loach, which uses soccer star Eric Cantona in effectively comedic ways.
09/22/09
A life-affirming film whose gritty exterior hides an undercoat of silky humour and an unexpected soft heart, Looking for Eric marries harsh reality with a sprinkling of fantasy in the down to earth way at which Ken Loach excels
09/19/09
Loach has created the first real grim-meets-feelgood film. It offers guilt-free fun and laughs for football and Loach fans alike.
06/16/09
Looking for Eric is likely to be as popular a film as Loach has made since he began working in 1964. They may even have to adjust the old cliché: it only takes 45 years to score a goal, Ken.
06/16/09
Looking For Eric is a British film that lifts the spirits and might even bring a tear to the eye. Loach has scored a winner.
06/12/09
Funny, touching and cheerfully unlikely in every sense, this ranks among the great British filmmaker's most enjoyable films.
06/12/09
It’s got all the heart and humour of a mainstream comedy-drama, with none of the tedious predictability.
06/12/09
It's a wonderfully surreal yarn which nonetheless stays rooted in the gritty real world as typically seen by Loach.
06/12/09
Call it Looking For Box Office: king of gritty social realism Loach has made a wonderful feel-good hit.
06/12/09
Looking For Eric is his most entertaining film yet, a feelgood, footy-mad gem that takes spectators through several rounds of anguish to a cheer-inducing finale of hope and glory.
06/12/09
With less of the grit but still plenty of the earthy humour Loach is renowned for, this walks the indie/ commercial line with assurance.
06/12/09
One of Loach's most entertaining, uplifting films.
06/12/09
Latest News for Looking for Eric
June 04, 2009:
Sydney Film Festival Opens With Ken Loach
More...
May 26, 2009:
Cannes 2009: RT's 10 Must-See Movies
The 62nd Cannes Film Festival has officially wrapped, with most commentators agreeing that this year's selection was a cut above. There were some disappointments, but plenty of... More...
May 22, 2009:
Cannes 2009: Cantona Continues Cinematic Outings
Former Manchester United soccer superstar Eric Cantona is carving a name for himself as an actor after Ken Loach's Looking for Eric, in which he stars, opened to critical... More...
May 19, 2009:
Cannes 2009: The Tomato Report – Antichrist Shocks, Eric Delights
Say what you like about Lars von Trier, the director never fails to find controversy. To one degree or another, most of his films have provoked comment for their themes and for... More...
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