Saipan shows us that Roy’s definitely not keen when it comes to playing for England as they headed towards the 2002 World Cup in Japan, under manager Mick McCarthy.
I haven’t watched a football match in a long time, but sometimes a film based upon a true story can be worth a watch. For this one, when it comes to training, the team head to Saipan in the Northern Mariana Islands, Roy Keane (The Sixth Commandment‘s Éanna Hardwicke, who looks nothing like Keane) expects a hotel with the best food, but it’s a shithole with almost non-existent air-conditioning and the training ground has a shitty pitch and ZERO footballs!
Oh, and there’s no water bottles, either, although it does have a stray goat…
Steve Coogan (How Are You? It’s Alan (Partridge)) plays Steve Coogan, under the guise of Mick McCarthy, mostly lackadaisical, and eventually, things come to a head as Roy shows the same arrogance as snooker player Ronnie O’Sullivan, even speaking to the press at one point, in the mistaken belief it’ll stay off the record.
However, while Saipan is far from a great film, it’s a reasonably entertaining watch, and comes in just on 90 minutes, so, thankfully, doesn’t outstay its welcome.
On an aspect ratio issue, the film is mostly shot and presented in a standard 2.39:1 ratio, film, but also includes some 16:9 camcorder footage and 4:3 TV clips.
Saipan is in cinemas now, and is available to pre-order on Blu-ray and DVD, ahead of its release on March 23rd.
NOTE: There are no mid- nor post-credits scenes.
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 90 minutes
Release date: January 23rd 2026
Studio: Vertigo Releasing
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1; 1.78:1 (some scenes), 1.33:1 (some scenes)
Cinema: Odeon Trafford Centre
Rating: 6/10
Directors: Lisa Barros D’Sa, Glenn Leyburn
Producers: Trevor Birney, Oliver Butler, Macdara Kelleher, John Keville
Screenplay: Paul Fraser
Music: David Holmes
Cast:
Roy Keane: Éanna Hardwicke
Mick McCarthy: Steve Coogan
Mick Byrne: Peter McDonald
Fiona McCarthy: Alice Lowe
Dickie Moloney: Jamie Beamish
Theresa Keane: Harriet Cains
Jason McAteer: Oliver Coopersmith
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.