I read the book Flipper's side so I knew the story well enough. More than half of that book is about the author's adventures following Darlington Fc home and away, season after season and to be honest is a pretty dry read, mentioning various matches, who scored and what the results were. Content which is understandably barely scratched at in this film which concentrates mainly on the struggles of a disabled man trying to overcome the trials of having an unloving father who all but abandoned him, a mother who suffered a stroke, trying get a job, his relationship with his mother's female carer and one of his multiple suicide attempts. The film also omits huge portions of his complex family from his mother's 2 marrages.
The cast are very good especially Toyah as his mother and the settings are also seem very real.
I can accept these ommisions, what I can't understand is how the film descended into outright fantasy in the last act and how everybody ended up playing happy families. It wasn't in the book and I seriously doubt two people one of them disabled and still in a wheelchair could use a single home made hang glider, fly it to Darlington stadium, land outside the ground where all the main characters just happen to be watching the match run outside for a group hug.
This feel good fantasy ending spoils all that went before and ruined the film for me.
The cast are very good especially Toyah as his mother and the settings are also seem very real.
I can accept these ommisions, what I can't understand is how the film descended into outright fantasy in the last act and how everybody ended up playing happy families. It wasn't in the book and I seriously doubt two people one of them disabled and still in a wheelchair could use a single home made hang glider, fly it to Darlington stadium, land outside the ground where all the main characters just happen to be watching the match run outside for a group hug.
This feel good fantasy ending spoils all that went before and ruined the film for me.