Fresh
The acting is as nimble as the footwork.
Jumana Farouky, TIME Magazine
Bend It Like Beckham
Who wants to cook Aloo Gobi when you can bend a ball like Beckham?
2002 · 1h 52m · PG-13
Comedy, Drama, Romance
Directed by
Gurinder Chadha
Overview
Jess Bhamra, the daughter of a strict Indian couple in London, is not permitted to play organized soccer, even though she is 18. When Jess is playing for fun one day, her impressive skills are seen by Jules Paxton, who then convinces Jess to play for her semi-pro team. Jess uses elaborate excuses to hide her matches from her family while also dealing with her romantic feelings for her coach, Joe.
Director and cast
- Gurinder Chadha Director
- Parminder Nagra as Jesminder 'Jess' Kaur Bhamra
- Keira Knightley as Juliette 'Jules' Paxton
- Jonathan Rhys Meyers as Joe
- Anupam Kher as Mr. Bhamra
- Shaheen Khan as Mrs. Bhamra
- Archie Panjabi as Pinky Bhamra
- Frank Harper as Alan Paxton
- Juliet Stevenson as Paula Paxton
- Shaznay Lewis as Mel
- Ameet Chana as Tony
Critics on Rotten Tomatoes
Top critics, in their words
85%
Tomatometer
Fresh
Fine character work by Juliet Stevenson, Archie Panjabi, and Bollywood regular Anupam Kher makes this well worth seeing.
J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader
Rotten
More rooted in small-screen sitcom than anything deeper.
Derek Elley, Variety
Fresh
Every generation has to discover the same cliches that were drummed into previous generations, and kids could do worse than to learn them from this film.
Peter Rainer, New York Magazine/Vulture
Fresh
As Spencer Tracy once said of Katharine Hepburn, there's not much meat there, but what's there is choice.
Eleanor Ringel Gillespie, Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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