Overrated

The story-telling is good with flashbacks.The film is both funny and heartbreaking. You smile in a scene and get a soulcrushing revelation in the next.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

This film really gave me the impression that the creators really didn't know that much about athletics and just made this purely to cash in on the UK's Olympic hype. Fist of all it's implied that the main character is relatively unknown in athletics and springs out of nowhere to become part of the team GB World Championship athletics team. Yeah, that's not really how it works, if she was already getting times that were good enough to be in the running for a team GB place, people would have known about her. She would already have competed in many national competitions and made a name for herself before qualifying for Great Britain.Also the fact that they go on a night out and drink alcohol literally the night before an international competition doesn't make much sense. If that was how the GB team operated in real life, I'd be very worried, therefore it's obviously just a plot device put in place to create conflict failing to reflect any sort of reality.However those are just little gripes. What really brought this film down was the clichéd plot points. We've got the arguments in the team which threaten to stop them winning, the forced romance which breaks down due to a misunderstanding and character arcs like the main character not working well in teams and the rich girl whose father does away with her if she doesn't win. These have all been done before, are executed poorly in this film and lack any depth as we know full well what will happen the moment we see them.They could have included an interesting plot point which connects to athletics, such as the main character being offered performance enhancing drugs or maybe delving deeper into how the main character got into running. But no, you could pretty much put this film's storyline into any sports movie and it would still work. Well, I say work, what I mean is produce the same forced and bland garbage that these kind of films have developed into over the years.All in all, the characters have no chemistry, the film is detached from reality and the plot points are very predictable. Do I really need to tell you what happens in the end? Didn't think so.

This is not written as a review of the film so much as its rating and guidance for parents thinking they might like to watch this with a child younger than 15. The film is rated 12a and written about a subject that a lot of younger children would following the summer of 2012 want to watch.As no content advisory existed I decided to review the film first before sitting with my 8 year old sports mad daughter and i am glad I did.Amongst various scatological terms and suggestive comments the film was let down by the use of one muttered and two very clear F bombs which in my mind at least should have warranted a 15 rating and were completely unnecessary.This is a shame as the film has the promise to be an athletic themed feel good along the lines of Bend It Like Beckham. I can only imagine this was allowed through by the censors as it was an Olympic year.

With the London Olympics fast approaching, what better way to cash in on the mood with a film about Female Athletics....that doesn't mention the Olympics at all or make any references to London. Nevertheless, the story is enjoyable, depicting a group of athletes trying to win relay success at the ''world championships'' despite having barely any practice, getting drunk before races and generally arguing with each other. Classic British spirit there.Our main characters Shania and Lisa, come from different backgrounds, Shania is working-class (we know this, as she claims she's never even been on a plane before!) whilst Lily is posh and supported by her family. Ignoring the fact that this is basically Bend It Like Beckham 2, the story works like a soap, at times it felt like an Olympic special of Eastenders, even featuring the actress who played ''Chelsea'' in the soap. There's drama, affairs and fights, alongside the minor issue of the actual Athletics. Written by Noel Clarke (Kidulthood/Adulthood creator), the film is very fast paced, and has that ''urban'' soundtrack to please teenagers. It essentially does what it says on the tin and you will find yourself caring about who wins the big race at the end!6/10

OK film, that follows a young dedicated black sprint racer as she battles to escape her council estate and become the best in the world. The lead character has no support from any of her friends or immediate family and is also homeless sleeping on couches.Her hardship has to be taken with a pinch of salt, because she appears fit and fed. The only help she receives is from an amateur coach who gives up his early mornings training her on a track that has seen better days with no proper facilities. The aim is to hit a consistent running time of under 23 seconds to qualify for the World Championships being held in London 2011.This aim brings her into conflict with the current UK champion and her father who is high up in the athletics association and will manipulate events for his daughter to always have the upper hand.The story covers familiar ground seen in most sports movies, and pushes home the concept that the only thing holding an individual back is how they deal with adversity and what they can do to break the cycle of their lives. The film deals with race and points the finger of fault at everybody ie if you come from a ghetto you can escape it with a little effort. The film is an enjoyable 100 minutes and the viewer does still root for the lead to achieve her goal no matter how self destructive she is. Its an attractive looking film, and does not claim to be a social documentary.