Green Street Hooligans poster & wallpaper
Get movie widget Recommend it Add to Favorites

Elijah Wood, Charlie Hunnam, Claire Forlani, Marc Warren, Leo Gregory ... see more see more... , Henry Goodman , Geoff Bell , Rafe Spall , Kieran Bew , Ross McCall , Francis Pope , Christopher Hehir , Terence Jay

An American abroad is introduced to the heady but dangerous pleasures of violence in this powerful drama from Great Britain. Matt Buckner (Elijah Wood) is a journalism student from America who is expe... read more read more...lled from college when his roommate sets him to take the fall after drugs are found in their dorm room. Needing time to sort out what his next move should be, Matt travels to London to visit his sister Shannon (Claire Forlani), who has married British Steve Dunham (Marc Warren). As it happens, Matt arrives at a less than opportune moment, and he ends up spending his first evening in the U.K. with Steve's brother Pete (Charlie Hunnam). Pete hangs out with a "firm" of friends who call themselves "the Green Street Elite" and are passionate fans of the West Ham United football club (Matt quickly discovers calling British football "soccer" is an easy way to get your teeth knocked out). Pete has little use for Matt until the Green Street Elite get into a dust-up with another firm; Matt turns out to be a fierce if inexperienced fighter, and discovers he enjoys the kick of street brawling. Matt is cautiously accepted by Pete and the other members of the firm, and is soon absorbed into the very British world of violent football fandom. But when Pete and his friends learn that Matt studied journalism, they begin to suspect he's a reporter doing an undercover piece on hooliganism, and they set out to teach him an ugly lesson about loyalty. The debut feature film from British director Lexi Alexander, Green Street Hooligans (initially shown simply as Hooligans) was the first film ever to win both the Jury Prize and the Audience Award at the South by Southwest Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Flixster Users

87% liked it

204,567 ratings

Critics

46% liked it

61 critics

R, 1 hr. 46 min.

Directed by: Lexi Alexander

Release Date: September 16, 2005

Invite friends to see

DVD Release Date: June 13, 2006

Stats: 15,057 reviews

report incorrect info

Photos

Pete! Charlie Hunnam Green Street Hooligans Charlie Hunman Charlie Hunnam Pete Dunham Green Street Hooligans The GSE quality Green Street Holligans Green Street Hooligans rafe spall rafe spall Green Street Hooligans Green Street Hooligans Charlie Hunnam Green Street Hooligans My HC Band! Named after the Hooligans Movie...
Upload a Photo | View All Green Street Hooligans Photos

Your Rating


clear rating

Flixster Reviews (15,057)

  • CloudStrife84
    October 29, 2011
    CloudStrife84
    Superb acting and very emotional drama. You immediately get sucked into the story. Additionally, it also has great pacing and a highly intriguing storyline. Final rating: a weak "4" from me.
  • phubbs1
    September 5, 2011
    phubbs1
    Along the same kinda lines as 'The Football Factory' but nowhere near as gritty and in your face, this film suffers from a slight case of Hollywood glitz.

    Not just because Elijah Wood is in it, that is one reason of course, but the violence just seems more coordinated and setup... read more haha whilst the many British actors in the film all have rather hokey cockney accents which are rather forced, some not all.

    The film centres around West Ham United Firm 'GSE: Green Street Elite' although the real firm is called 'ICF: Inner City Firm' and follows the guys around as they go to matches and plan on fights with rival firms. Nothing much different from other 'firm' flicks but the added plot of Yankee Wood who slowly fits in against his UK based sisters wishes and grows to enjoy the lifestyle.

    No one really that well known in the film accept Wood who is TOTALLY out of place in this type of flick but I guess that's the idea right. Only thing is you simply can't see Wood ever getting tough enough to do what he does in the film, never in a month of Sundays.

    Good entertainment but using allot of artistic license and second best to 'The Football Factory' and 'The Firm'....if your into these types of films.
  • DreamExtractor
    August 15, 2011
    DreamExtractor
    Green Street Hooligans is one of those rare films where we get are glad we watched it and is probably Elijah Woods best performance (besides LOTR).
  • fb729949618
    August 9, 2011
    fb729949618
    Being a FOOTBALL fan, I love this movie; tt's Fight Club meets football. The only flaw of this film is Elijah Wood. His acting skills are very poor and I feel they could have done a better job with casting.
  • Tomassgringo
    February 7, 2011
    Tomassgringo
    Combining a passion with sports with a taste for violence. Fight Club combined with sports fanatics! lol Great movie! Very powerful story supported with equally strong performances!
  • flixsterman
    February 2, 2011
    flixsterman
    If you're looking for a film about football (or soccer) you're going to be severely disappointed. Green Street Hooligans isn't about sports at all, it's about firms and families and the sense of belonging to something tangible and real. It's also about machismo and man's... read more self-destructive nature and how hard it is to make Elijah Wood look tough and menacing.
  • ceWEBrity
    September 28, 2010
    ceWEBrity
    This movie is shockingly fucking stupid. It's almost serviceable as an anthropological capsule, because I really wanted to learn more about the firms, but according to actual members of firms it misrepresents them and paints them as far more violent than they actually are. I woul... read moredn't exactly rush to believe them, as I could easily imagine football fans being a savage and reckless lot, but Green Street Hooligans is a nonstop celebration of their relentless idiocy. The violence is presented as brutal, sure, but is the movie's aim really to get us to tsk-tsk at the brutality? Of course not; it's frenetically paced and edited Bourne-style to try and amp us up as much as possible. The movie is a hotshot of testosterone first and a morality tale second, which isn't an approach that necessarily fails, except for Hooligans' woebegone attempts to redeem itself in the third act. The cliches, present in scattered bursts through the first two thirds, come roaring into play here. Cut and paste scriptwriting at its ugliest.

    My problems with Green Street Hooligans could continue - perhaps the greatest of which is the casting of Elijah Wood, who's a great fit for his character's baby steps but just doesn't have the edge to suggest a transformation into someone rough or angry. Really, though, the movie is too boring to complain about. It's a hyper-typical loss of innocence tale interspersed with some dull stylized violence to lure us away from the incredibly simple moral messages. This will probably fly with an unjaded teenage boy or a football fan, but its niche success indicates its overall lack of appeal.
  • LWOODS04
    February 26, 2010
    LWOODS04
    Elijah Wood, Charlie Hunnam, Maro Warren, Claire Forlani, Leo Gregory, Rafe Spall, Kieran Bew, David Alexander, David Carr, Joel Beckett, Geoff Bell

    DIRECTED BY: Lexi Alexander

    After being wrongfully expelled from Harvard University, American Matt Buckner flees to his siste... read morer's home in England. Once there, he is befriended by her charming and dangerous brother-in-law, Pete Dunham, and introduced to the underworld of British football hooliganism. Matt learns to stand his ground through a friendship that develops against the backdrop of this secret and often violent world. 'Green Street Hooligans' is a story of loyalty, trust and the sometimes brutal consequences of living close to the edge.

    A powerful story of England Football and their intense fans. I am really surprised at how much I loved this movie. I didn't know if I would not being a fan of soccer (football). But the movie is about so much more then that. The hooligans are a brotherhood and loyalty. I was surprised that Elijah Wood was cast in this type of movie. But what is more surprising is how well he pulled this character off. Great job by him. Charlie Hunnam was fantastic in this film. The fight scenes are really intense and bloody. They were very realistic. Just a great film. Totally worth the watch.
  • smith44
    February 5, 2010
    smith44
    Stand your ground and fight. A smahing film (excuse the pun, what pun?) really gets you in and gives you a chav style shake up.
  • ScoopOnline
    December 5, 2009
    ScoopOnline
    OUTSTANDING!

View All Green Street Hooligans Reviews

Critic Reviews

Bob Longino
October 29, 2005
Bob Longino, Atlanta Journal-Constitution

It swims and sinks in melodrama. Full Review

John Monaghan
October 21, 2005
John Monaghan, Detroit Free Press

There's a good movie to be made about the violent world of British soccer, or football, as it's called on the other side of the pond. This isn't it.

Steven Rea
October 14, 2005
Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer

The script is a jumble of caricatures and cliches.

Desson Thomson
October 13, 2005
Desson Thomson, Washington Post

Soccer needs this movie like Georgia needed Deliverance. Full Review

Kerry Lengel
October 13, 2005
Kerry Lengel, Arizona Republic

It's what you thought Fight Club was going to be, before it went in a whole other (and far more interesting) direction. Full Review

Joe Leydon
October 11, 2005
Joe Leydon, Variety

Pic amply demonstrates that Alexander -- director of Johnny Flynton, 2003 Oscar nominee for dramatic short -- has the chops to bring a fresh take to onscreen rough stuff. Full Review

Wesley Morris
September 30, 2005
Wesley Morris, Boston Globe

Unfortunately, the beatings are often more interesting than what's caused them. Full Review

G. Allen Johnson
September 23, 2005
G. Allen Johnson, San Francisco Chronicle

Terrific because director Lexi Alexander, a German, brings an authentic feel to English hooliganism -- this is a brutal yet tremendously entertaining film -- and treats it very seriously. Full Review

Richard Roeper
September 12, 2005
Richard Roeper, Ebert & Roeper

This is a brutal, insightful look at a side of sports most Americans don't even know about. Full Review

Kyle Smith
September 10, 2005
Kyle Smith, New York Post

Director and co-writer Lexi Alexander choreographs the fight scenes with thrilling chaos, and the plot unfolds expertly if melodramatically.

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Cast

More Like This

Click a thumb to vote on that suggestion, or add your own suggestions.

  • The Football Factory
    The Football Factory (82%)
  • Fight Club
    Fight Club (67%)
  • American History X
    American History X (79%)
  • Rise of the Footsoldier
    Rise of the Footsoldier (71%)

More Movies like Green Street Hooligans

Facts

No facts approved yet. Be the first

Green Street Hool... : Watch Free on TV

Green Street Hooligans Trivia

  • Name the Movie: Elijah Wood, Disgraced Harvard Student joins ranks with West Ham hooligans?  Answer »
  • In what movie did elija wood star in where he joins a football firm in the london  Answer »
  • In the movie Green Street Hooligans, who gets stabbed in the neck with a broken bottle.  Answer »
  • Where is the firm from that the GSE first fight with at the beginning of "Green Street Hooligans"?  Answer »
More Green Street Hooligans Trivia

Movie Quizzes

Create a Quiz |

All Quizzes

Video Clips

Upload a Video |

All Green Street Hooligans Videos

Meet Other Fans

Add Green Street Hooligans to favorites

Recent News

No recent headlines. Got one?

Recent Lists

Make a List |

View All Lists

Most Popular Skin

kpn666 Skin by kpn666
752 Profiles
Add to Profile

More Skins