The ironically titled ‘Victory Club’ are a woeful Chinese football (I’m not saying ‘soccer’) team who haven’t won a game all year. After the coach escapes and the lights in the ground go off, it seems that the club is about to close forever and their one passionate fan is the only support they have at the stadium. Enter a marketing executive who finds an ingenious way to mix football with viral advertising – soon the money is pouring into the club and their stadium is filling up. Yet with their captain no longer feeling that they are true to the support and numerous rivals copying their marketing ideas, ‘Victory Club’ is soon under threat again.
‘Funny Soccer’ is me, hopelessly petty, laughing at Manchester United’s season this year. It’s also this modest and mostly enjoyable Chinese comedy that doesn’t quite give enough of either part of the title to be a true classic. Director Lam Tze-Chung is well known for his iconic role in ‘Shaolin Soccer’ and though this is much less fantastical, it looks at the absurdity of all modern sport. The film is filled with the usual characters needing redemption and there are very few surprises, but it works as undemanding entertainment.
While it is a good idea that is probably stretched beyond its running time, there is something quite heartening about ‘Funny Soccer’. The attempt at pathos near the end doesn’t quite land and there are only a few what might be generously termed ‘laugh out loud’ moments, but there are worse ways to spend ninety minutes. One of which is watching Manchester United.
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