Bend It Like Beckham

The film caricaturises every character, save the lead players and their sympathisers, in the most obvious manner.

Superb tale of a girl's struggle for her dreams.

The acting is as nimble as the footwork.

Fine character work by Juliet Stevenson, Archie Panjabi, and Bollywood regular Anupam Kher makes this well worth seeing.

More rooted in small-screen sitcom than anything deeper.

Delightfully upbeat, it will send you back out onto the street grinning from ear to ear.

...a very earnest and uplifting exploration of the daughter of Indian immigrants who just wants to play some football.

For any film to be a great sports film it must have staying power, beyond ample training montages and a great comeback game, and Bend It Like Beckham has all of that in spades and more.

An unashamedly feel-good soccer comedy that is sharper than Cristiano Ronaldo's latest haircut, has better vision than your average linesman and is more uplifting than winning on penalties in extra time.

Beckham pointedly punctures English, Indian, and immigrant foibles despite a few jokes that are broad enough to hit the side of a barn.