Title: Bend It Like Beckham (2002)
Director: Gurinder Chadha
Actors: Keira Knightley, Parminder Nagra, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Juliet Stevenson a.o.
Runtime: 112 Mins.

I recently watched this cute movie again. I have seen this one several times. This is the movie that sparked my interest in Keira Knightley (her acting, I swear ;) ).
It is still good after watching it a couple of times. It has typical British humor and that is one kind of humor I really like. It all starts out with an Indian girl, Jessminder, played by Parminder Nagra, who wants to play soccer. Her parents, however, do not want her to play soccer. They want her to learn how to cook and basically be the perfect housewife.

One day, she gets approached by Jules, this is where Keira comes in, and she asks her to join a girls soccer team. She agrees and when asked by the coach (Cool Irishman Jonathan Rhys Meyers) if her parents are okay with it, she says yes.
Meanwhile, Jules has got troubles of her own, when her mom wants her to be more feminine and go out on dates. But Jules seems to be more interested in football. Her father, however, does not seem to mind. This brings some tension between her parents.

Still, with all the troubles, they seem to cope well. Until they both fall in love with Joe, the coach. And Jessminder has to make a choice: play that important match or go to her sister's wedding, which both are on the same day...

I thought this was a pretty cool movie. It is very simple, does not require a lot of thinking. This is the ultimate sit back and relax type of movie. An hour and a half of pure fun, upbeat music and jokes about racial differences ('British girls have such short hair' and Jules' mom asking Jess if her parents have found her a guy to marry yet.) and lesbians (Jules' mom thinks Jules and Jess are dating.). If you are easily offended these jokes might put you off a bit

I once read that Jess and Jules, in the original draft, were actually dating, but I think the movie is so much funnier this way. The suggestion, sometimes, is funnier than actual actions. And the lesbian suggestion really works well in this movie. Having them actually date would have ruined the jokes.

I give this movie a 8/10. I actually prefer the new Keira movies. You can really see she has grown as an actress and Parminder Nagra, now, shines on ER. Check it out!