Looking for Eric (2009)

I went to the cinema on a bad day, a bad week actually. Ken Loach and Eric put a smile on my heart. Thank you guys. A beautiful film.

An entertaining if barely credible parable about the power of family and friends with a touch of fantasy as postman Eric Bishop, inspired by France and Manchester United football hero Eric Cantona, gets his and his dysfunctional family's lives on track in the face of seeming adversity.Eric has two out of control live-in step-sons, the eldest of which has fallen in with local gangster Zac, a failed marriage to childhood sweetheart Lily and generally endures life in circumstances not much above squalor. About the only things he has going for him are his postman mates at work and their shared love of Manchester United, for whom, to the uninitiated, Cantona was the talismanic genius behind their rise to success in the late 90's. At his lowest ebb, Eric the King steps into Eric the Loser's life, like a human version of Harvey the Rabbit, dispensing the Frenchman's famous cryptic philosophy to encourage the other Eric to sort his life out.For Me though, this was a film of two halves, with the first half, where Eric's various family predicaments loom large, with the undercurrent of his nascent wish to rekindle his relationship with Lily percolating along nicely in the background. However in the second half, the film descends a bit into latter-day Ealing Comedy as a few coach loads of his mates, suitably masked up in Cantona false-faces accompany him on a mission to sort out the bad guy, resolving his son's problems and clearing the way with Lily at a stroke.For me the juxtaposition jars a little too much and in the end I felt somewhat manipulated by the director. That said there are some good performances, especially Steve Evers as the heavy laden hero, John Henshaw (now ironically getting work advertising the Royal Mail's service on UK TV) as senior postman "Meatballs" and Stephanie Bishop as the waiting-to-be-wooed Lily. The great man himself, "Ooh -Aah"Cantona acquits himself well, naturally playing up his individualism and mystique.I somehow didn't foresee this film ending up as a feel-good almost family entertainment during the early stages and think the journey didn't lead necessarily to the natural destination, but it was still a pleasant, diverting modern-day entertainment, worth a watch.

I have been an fan of the films of Ken Loach since I saw 'Hidden Agenda' some years back. In the years since he first directed films for television,working up to his first feature film,'Poor Cow',up until recent,he has painted a portrait of the English blue collar working class,most times unvarnished (they live their day by day lives,drink, smoke,swear a lot,and are sometimes brutal,unflinchingly,but generally never demonize them). In this tale,a middle aged man,Eric Bishop,is at the lowest point of his existence. His ex wife wants next to nothing to do with him (he walked out on his marriage early on),and his two sons (one adopted)are a stranger to him. About all he has is his football chums that he spends most of his time in pubs,arguing football,etc. to call his own. One night after sneaking some of his son's Marijuana,Eric is sitting in his room in a depressed gloom,wondering what went wrong with his life,when he gets a visit from the kindred spirit of French born footballer,Eric Cantona (Eric's hero,as exemplified by the posters of Cantona in the bedroom),giving Eric advice on how to get his life back in check. Heeding Cantona's advice,Eric sets about to make amends for his short comings (including a sub plot element involving his eldest son Ryan,who is hanging out with gangsters who make Ryan hold onto a gun used in a shooting). Will Eric Bishop clean up his act,become the father he is supposed to be to his sons,and try to reconcile with his wife? That is for you,the audience to find out. Ken Loach (The Wind That Shakes The Barley,Hidden Agenda,and way too many to list here)directs from a screenplay written by Paul Laverty (who wrote the screenplay for 'Barley',as well as 'My Name Is Joe',also directed by Loach). Featuring Steve Evets as Eric Bishop,Eric Cantona as himself,Stephanie Bishop as his wife Lily,Gerald Kearns as Ryan,and Stefan Gumbs as Jess,Eric's other son. With Matthew McNulty,Laura Ainsworth,Max Beesley,Kelly Bowland & John Henshaw. A flawed,but crowd pleasing,life affirming comedy/drama about finding one's own niche later in life. Not rated by the MPAA,this film serves up pervasive strong language,adult content,including drug references & some harrowing confrontations for our protagonist.

He was a King to millions of Red Army followers, including postman Eric Bishop (Steve Evets). His wife has left him, his step-sons don't respect him and he's losing touch with his eldest daughter, desperate and depressed Eric turns to the only person he believes he can trust; French superstar and Manchester legend Eric Cantona (playing himself). Lighting up a spliff in the darkest corner of his bedroom, Eric turns to the footballing-philosopher as he hopes to get his life back on track, just as Cantona did after returning from a four-month ban for kung-fu kicking a hooligan during a match at Selhurst Park.'Looking For Eric' sees Ken Loach go back to doing what he does best creating charming, heart-warming and at times, incredibly funny, film-making. Eric is a man on the brink, he can't control his children nor does he have the confidence to approach his ex-wife Lily (Stephanie Bishop). His closest friends aren't much help either. Despite working with him in the post-room for years, they all mean well, but there attempts at cheering up Eric generally lead to hilarious situations rather than uplifting sentiment. However this film is not a comedy, it is a socio-drama that concentrates upon one character, Eric, as he reaches the brink of self-destruction, but through those around him (despite how unhelpful they are at times) he manages to build himself back up into the man he always wanted to be. While the real genius of this film is in the beautifully shot sequences involving Eric and Eric (Cantona) as they try to find solutions to his problems. Eric Cantona is not simply an idol or a footballer to Eric the Postman in this film he is a lot more than that, Cantona is his saviour in the form of an understanding intelligent human being, and this relationship drives the film delightfully until the final scene and its inspirational climax.If you're put off by notion of a footballer being in relatively large role in a feature film, reserve your judgement for after you have seen this film. Ken Loach hits a hat-trick of successes with 'Looking For Eric' as the story, acting and direction all combine to create one of the best dramas of 2009. In the immortal words of Mr Cantona himself; "When the seagulls follow the trawler, it's because they think sardines will be thrown into the sea." And no, I still don't know what (or who) Eric Cantona was referring to when he made that statement...