There's been a lot of controversy in sports lately involving overzealous fans going too far, but at least America has yet to acquire the brutal subculture shown in Green Street Hooligans. The film explores the world of British football firms (or soccer gangs, as we Yanks would call them). Every soccer team has an unofficial firm connected with it, and when a match takes place between two teams, a gang war erupts between their firms. Whether the teams win or lose doesn't matter. The match gives the violently territorial firms an excuse to better their reps at the opposing firm's expense. It has more to do with booze and testosterone than sports.
Enter into this world Matt Buckner (Elijah Wood), an American wrongfully expelled from Harvard who's traveled to England to cry on the shoulder of his sister, Shannon (Claire Forlani). He promptly meets her brother-in-law, Pete Dunham (Charlie Hunnam), the incarnation of Cockney machismo, and is introduced to the unexpected allure of firm membership.
Hooligans' greatest strength lies in its ability to convince us that even meek Frodo, of all people, can be drawn into the mob mentality and become an anxious participant in acts of senseless violence. It's easy to see how Matt's desire to win over the Yank-hating crowd, combined with a few pints at the local pub, could result in a fight that feels misleadingly noble. As he says, "It's not just knowing your friend has your back that makes it great. It's knowing you have your friend's back." With such intoxicating loyalty, it's easy to forget there's no real reason for anyone to have anyone's back.
In many ways, the film feels like a less fantastical exploration of several of the themes present in Fight Club. Initially, there's a therapeutic quality to the violence. Both films reasonably suggest that this suppressed aggression can exist in anyone with a Y chromosome, regardless of his station in life. The fascinating thing about firms is that they're not comprised of junkies or deadbeats. At the end of a gang war, these people go home to their wives and families and get up the next morning to work as teachers and businessmen.
There are occasions when Hooligans strays from realism. Some of the plot turns are a bit sensational, and the film is book-ended by a Harvard subplot that feels contrived. But as an examination of what it takes to turn a thinking man into a barbarian, Hooligans rings disturbingly true.