The Damned United

I've just been to watch the film, 'The Damned United' at the Kingston Odeon and I enjoyed it even more than I expected to and I had high expectations. The performance of Michael Sheen was terrific and even for people like me who have been close Clough watchers, he was utterly authentic and believable - I thought he was excellent in 'The Queen' too and haven't yet watched 'Frost/Nixon'.

The thing I liked most about 'The Damned United' was its portrayal of the close friendship and bond between Clough and his assistant Peter Taylor - the way their relationship was developed and portrayed in the film was truly touching and artfully done. I also liked the way the film was able to show Clough as both extraordinarily confident and arrogant but also a touch insecure - from what I know about Clough, I think this is probably accurate.

Probably the thing I learnt about Clough from the film was just how strong his obsession with Don Revie was - probably because I knew Clough more from his later Nottingham Forest days in the 1980s, I didn't know as much as I should have done about the situation between Clough & Revie.

A really, really good film.