The Damned United (2009, Dir: Tom Hooper)

...or Alienation & Earlobes, as it could be titled.

What does a world leader do with his time once he leaves office? Write a memoir? Tour the world, public-speaking? Venture into big business? If you’re Tony Blair, the answer is ‘none of the above’.

In his second film set in the 1970s, the former Prime Minister plays celebrated football manager Brian Clough, struggling through his doomed 44-day tenure at Leeds United in 1974. Adapted from David Peace’s ‘imagined’ novel, director Tom Hooper and screenwriter Peter Morgan have produced a cracking little film – a wonderfully realised period-piece set in the north of England, and featuring a great cast.

Hooper’s first shot is magnificent – an external shot of Elland Road on a dreary, overcast and drizzling day. Matching the weather, we see a lightning storm of flashbulbs explode inside as Don Revie resigns from Leeds to take the England Manager position, paving the way for Clough to succeed him. The non-linear narrative, matching the novel, then takes us back a few years to the start of Clough’s ascent at Derby County and the roots of his ambition to better Revie.

Timothy Spall, excellent as always, plays Clough’s right-hand man Peter Taylor, and we’re even treated to an appearance by Jim Broadbent as Derby chairman Sam Longson. Broadbent sleepwalks through his performance, probably weighted down by the oversized prosthetic old-man earlobes assigned to his character.

The film really evokes the magic of football, before the days of satellite television when games really did kick-off at 3pm on a Saturday. The scenes set at Derby’s Baseball Ground stadium are particularly nostalgic, with the smell of musty changing rooms wafting off the screen.

After a forced denouement (let off the hook for using Fleetwood Mac’s brilliant Man Of The World), a nice epilogue shows us a few real-life clips of Clough’s achievements following the events of the film. Thankfully it doesn’t show him drunk on television or assaulting fans.

(Seriously though, Michael Sheen is a fucking chameleon. Aside from a few lines when he seems to fall back into David Frost, he really gets under the skin of Clough. If this man does not win a Best Actor Oscar at some point in his career, there is no justice.)