Good movie but grossly overrated

An Exercise In Nonsense

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

The Penalty King tells the story of Lee who is a blind football fan, and his friend Charlie and how he gets Lee to love the Beautiful game again! I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed the Penalty King, as usually a film about football would not be my first choice, but I think this film would appeal to football fans and non fans, as it is a strong character driven piece with a great, and very humorous in places script.Though the film is of a lower budget, it has a high quality feel to it,by using lots of shooting locations,past Leeds games footage, and a good use of soundtrack.Overall I found the Penalty King to be a funny uplifting movie, which is made more enjoyable by the buddy relationship between the central characters Lee and Charlie.

I had the pleasure of actually being in this, albeit as an extra. I was the tall chav with glasses when Lee was being hassled by the beach.The crew were all very friendly, as were the cast (those of which I met). It was a good day, despite the fact that I am devoid of all footballing talent! I first actually saw the film at its Brighton premiere, and enjoyed it thoroughly. I can recommend it to anyone, even if they're not football fans. I'm certainly not.Chris is a marvellous director, not to mention a very nice man. He performed a marvel in developing this movie, almost literally done on a shoestring.Keep an eye out for him in future.

I was fortunate to see this film at a special preview at Elland Road and what a treat. Chris Cook (The director) has used real life experience and his love of Leeds United to create a special low budget cult film. From the early stages you can see his dry sense of humour and slightly twisted view of the world is reflected brilliantly by the means of witty replies and humours profanity. Penalty King follows the life a Lee a die hard Leeds fan who has recently lost his sight to illness and works in a dead end job at the social services cleaning second hand disability equipment. Apart from watching his beloved Leeds all Lee would like to do again is "have a good dam kick about" some thing not possible since the loss of his sight, but with the help of Charlie his eccentric American colleague can Lee once again live the dream and become the penalty king? A must see for all Leeds fans or anyone who has a passion for a football club, works in a dead end job, played Sunday morning football or just enjoys a film with wall to wall laughsBe warned though if you are offended by strong profanity this film might not be for you

As an avid football fan and Leeds United fan, I came across this film after appearing as an extra and enjoying the day filming at Elland Road and have been excited ever since the day's filming to see this film come to life.One of the first things I noticed from the shoot was of the director's passion, motivation and energy for this film and the opportunity to be able express his life and his everyday stories of life being a Leeds United fan. My excitement was met with joy when I finally saw the film at a private screening at Elland Road.The film is lovely story of a guy, a guy like many of us whose life revolves around a 9 to 5 job, a love for his wife and a love for 'the beautiful game' of football. Lee is unfortunately blind, and he still misses and dreams of the time he kicked around a ball for his local pub team and the love of Leeds United and "the wee ginger man" - Billy Bremner. Lee just wants to play football, and in tricky situations turns to his friend Billy Bremner to find answers to many of life's everyday questions.This is not a film just for Leeds United fans, of course it is great to see Leeds United on the big screen and recollections of some great clips of Leeds in action and the stadium, but the story is really gripping and you can really feel the pain that Lee is under in his life, to just to be able to kick a ball around a car park or a football pitch.I loved the film and look forward to seeing it in a big screen in the not too distant future. This is not just another football fan, it is an adventure through somebody's life who is full of passion, and to see how a guy can overcome his loss of sight and to be able to enjoy 'the beautiful game.'