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Movie Review: Bend it Like Beckham (Chadha)

Sometimes you go into a movie in such a good emotional state that it would be pretty difficult for the movie to seem too bad. What is even more difficult is for the movie to be good enough to actually make you even happier - and this movie might be able to do that.

It is a pretty simple premise - daughter of strict Sikh parents wants to play football (or "soccer") but her parents forbid her. She sneaks out, and wackiness ensues. What makes this movie even better than it should be, though, is the loving portrayal of almost all the characters. The strict mother is a little one-note, but the other characters all seem to have pretty believable personalities. All of the actors are likeable, so it is really easy to want them to succeed.

Movies like this can also have a difficulty with the plot - you know it has to have a happy ending, so how do you make the ending be surprising in a believable way? This does a fine job with it - staying true to the characters, making some difficult decisions, having some things work out like you want them to. And it avoided a cliched last minute penalty kick to decide the game, which I definitely appreciated.

Overall, thoroughly enjoyable, funny, warm, and entertaining movie.