Reviews

I saw Indecent Seduction (as it is called in the UK) on television late one night, and watched it expecting it to be Shannon Tweed - type movie. Instead it was an enthralling film, well acted by it's young cast and in particular Gary Cole as Coach Nash. Young Amy Dustin starts high school as a fresh young girl (as shown by the soft toys she has in her room and scatty nature) and finishes her first year as a worldly wise, somewhat cynical young woman after her "crush" and mild flirtation with football coach and biology teacher Pete Nash becomes a full blown sexual relationship. Cole gives a superb performance as Nash, at times acting as another father to Amy, at times becoming angry and all the while coolly manipulating the situation. He is shown to be the worst kind of sexual predator. Sex is dealt with subtly, and while the movie begins to tail away a little towards the end, a scene where Coach Nash professes to love Amy to a colleague from prison is thought provoking and makes the viewer wonder about the character afresh.

Of course this is not a great film. However, it has some edge to it, more so than one might expect from a TV movie, and is well made. Ultimately, I would recommend the film.

Fans of the first two Superman films will have waited excitedly for Superman Returns, and the trailers using John Williams' original theme and the shot of the bullet striking Superman's eye certainly made me want to see this film since last Christmas. I watched the film and enjoyed several scenes: the biplane crash was great, and Superman taking Gatling gun fire to the chest was a great effect. The film updates the feel of the former films to the modern day effectively, incorporating modern forms of media etc. There were good performances from Spacey (although he was chewing the scenery a little) and Routh (although surely he and Bosworth were too young for the roles?), and Superman being beaten was genuinely emotional. However, however ...

The film was lacking in several ways. Where was the set piece ending? The film ended in as much a whimper as the first film (which I felt was its only flaw). Why did Luthor have another female accomplice? They always end up betraying him. Why when the child can recognise Superman does no one else? The biggest flaw in the whole film is that, as a sequel to Superman II, the paternity of Lois' child must be a complete mystery. In Superman II, Lois slept with Clark once, when they were in the Fortress of Solitude. There is no other time that she slept with Superman in the films. Yet at the end of Superman II, Clark wipes Lois memory. So when she finds out that she has Superman's child, why does she not immediately wonder when she actually slept with him? Superman must have knocked her up after Superman II finished and before he left back to Krypton and not told her who he was. I do not buy this, it is so out of character.

This small point has been driving me mental! This, along with the other flaws mentioned, brought down a very slick film.

I knew a little about the New York Cosmos before I saw this movie, and had always been intrigued as to how Pele, Beckenbauer and others came to play in a country that had seemed so apathetic to association football or soccer.

The movie tells the story of exactly how this happened, beginning with the purchase of the Cosmos by Steve Ross of Warners Communication as a favour to the owners of Atlantic Records in the mid 1970's. They immediately signed the world's best known player Pele, and as media interest grew, the popularity of the club also grew. Following Pele, several established European players came over the join the clubs of the growing league, whilst the Cosmos recruited Italian Chinaglia and German legend Beckenbauer amongst others. The Cosmos ended up playing in front of 80,000 fans and winning several league championships, before imploding in the early 1980's.

The film features testimony and recollections from many of the principal protagonists, although the deceased Ross is not present, and Pele declined to be involved. This makes for some good moments as several different people claim the credit for the same thing on more than one occasion. The soundtrack is fantastic and the soccer action well presented, although not using classical football broadcasting techniques, such as wide angle shots. I enjoyed the film, which unfolded the story of the Cosmos in an interesting and rather fun way. My favourite moments were recollections from the amateur American players who had the luck to play with several of the greatest players to play the game. These men seemed humble and were all amusing and engaging. They certainly looked better than the arrogant Chinaglia.

My only sustained criticism of the film is that it rather rushed the ending and the slide towards oblivion of the Cosmos, dwelling a little too much on the signing of Pele. However, this is a minor flaw. Any fan of football interested in the history of the game should watch this well made documentary.