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Kicking Off centres around Cockney football fans Wigsy (Warren Brown – Luther) and Cliff (Greg McHugh – Fresh Meat), as their team are on the verge of relegation with the season coming to a close.
A decision by referee Anthony Greaves (Alistair Petrie – The Night Manager, Utopia) goes against the team in the dying minutes, and their fate is assured, much to the annoyance of the pair, plus everyone in the pub. So, they kidnap him… and that’s about it.
Frequently there’s Narration from McHugh, often motioning to camera, while there’s far too brief appearances from Danielle Bux – recently divorced from Gary Lineker – as Wigsy’s better half, Philippa. Add into the mix, former footballers Mark Bright and Geoff Hurst, the latter of whom Wigsy is obsessed, and there’s a number of ideas we’ve seen used before, even right down to the exchange which leads to Wigsy’s ex picking up the television, in terms of the structure of the dialogue and the argument. But that’s more structure than there is to the film itself.
I can understand two angry football fans considering kidnapping the referee but where do you realistically go from there?
Kicking Off passes a never-boring 85 minutes, but the three leads that we’re following are better than this, and the whole premise has been done before, and more effectively.
Score this one as an own goal.
Kicking Off is released in cinemas on April 21st and is available to pre-order on DVD, ahead of its release on April 25th.
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 85 minutes
Studio: Signature Entertainment
Year: 2016
Format: 2.35:1
Released: April 21st 2016
Rating: 3/10
Director: Matt Wilde
Producers: Tom George and Andy Thompson
Screenplay: Robert Farquhar
Music: Si Begg
Cast:
Wigsy: Warren Brown
Cliff: Greg McHugh
Anthony Greaves: Alistair Petrie
Philippa: Danielle Bux
Himself: Mark Bright
Himself: Geoff Hurst
Murray Peterson: Tim Major
Caroline: Amaka Okafor
Brickie: Bailey Patrick
Radio Producer: Jon-Paul Gates
Prof Jennings: Dan Fredenburgh
Herself: Vivien Creegor
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.