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Based upon the 1989 classic of the same name, writer/director Nick Love has re-created The Firm. Young and impressionable Dom (an excellent McNab) is growing tired of his humdrum life and longs for something better to do than wondering the streets of East London with his mate Terry. Then he meets Bex (Anderson) the leader of a local Firm who seems to be living the life Dom only dreams off. But as Dom gets more and more involved with Bex he begins to realises the cost of living the hooligan’s life and the violence-shy youngster must decided whose, if any, side he’s really on.  

With a reputation for glorifying and glamorising violence, The Football Factory director has this time round allowed the violence to take a back seat and focuses more on Dom’s fixation with Bex and desire to be part of something bigger. He aims to examine not only why people get involved in Firms but also can living a life dominated by violence every lead to anything but destruction. This makes for a slightly more stimulating watch that the other Football hooligan films that have come before it.

But the question remains – do we really need yet another film about football violence? The Firm tells us nothing we don’t already know (beating people up on the weekend is bad!) using characters we have already seen before (yet another Cockney geezer who like cigarettes and alcohol) and while I was happy to spend an hour and a half watching it, I was hardly pondering its themes on the way home. The best thing about it is the fashion and it was nice to take a trip down memory lane and remember the clothes your mum used to make you wear as a child.

Calum McNab does an excellent job as Dom and it’s nice to see the young actor graduate from his smaller role in The Football Factory to the leading character. He is equally matched by Anderson who does well as the charming yet dangerous Bex.

The Firm is a well made film about the dangers of living life on the edge and while it does bring a slightly different take on the football violence genre, it will ultimately only satisfy its already established fans.