Eric is a poor postman that has lost control over his life and kids. 20 years back he married a nice looking girl that he met dancing Rock'n'Roll. Today he is alone raising two kids that do not pay any attention to him. The guy is depressed and lost. His friends try to cheer him up and read railway station psychology books to give him a lift. Some scenes are just excellent.
One day Eric meets Eric Cantona. If you do not know who Eric Cantona is you miss half the fun, but the movie is excellent even if you do not know anything about him. Eric Cantona is one of the most talented football players, a genius on the field and an enigmatic poet outside. Quite bad tempered he was banned for a long time for assaulting a fan from an opposing team. Eric Cantona is famous for a metaphor he used one day in a press conference that stunned everybody. Something about seagulls, try to find it on Youtube before going to the movie... although they show it at the end of the movie.
In the movie, Eric Cantona helps Eric to come out of his depressive state and pushes him to find the courage to speak to his ex girlfriend. Eric Cantona uses a lot of colorful metaphors and proverbs to help the guy. It is just delightful. One example: The noblest revenge is to forgive!
The movie is a message of hope and as Eric Cantona points out several times, no matter how bad or impossible things look like: in life there are always more choices than you think. Finally it is important to trust your friends...
I love this kind of movies that take simple and real persons and build a story around them.
In a nutshell, Ken Loach has made an excellent movie here. Eric Cantona as himself is just fantastic and the movie is full of little gems that make you think about life. A very nice way to spend an evening at the movie theater.
