LOOKING FOR ERIC
I’m used to associating director Ken Loach with fervent examinations of social ills and historical events such as Ladybird, Ladybird, My Name is Joe and 2006’s The Wind That Shakes the Barley. But Loach, screenwriter Paul Laverty and producer Rebecca O’Brien decided that their latest project had to be a little lighter. And then Manchester United legend Eric Cantona came calling.
Cantona, who has been away from football for some years, had done some acting and wanted to produce a film about football and its devoted legions of fans. His idea was to produce a film based on the true story of one soccer devotee who gave up work, family and everything else to follow his team. Loach and Laverty decided, however, to develop their own different story – and Cantona agreed to participate.
The film is about the search for two Eric’s – Cantona and the film’s protagonist, Eric Bishop (Steve Evets), who we first meet circling in one of those insane “roundabouts” in Manchester, but (as is slowly revealed in a nice pull-out) in the wrong direction. Eric, the postman (or “postie”) is a “skivvy” – a working-class, down-on-his-luck, mess-up. He abandoned his first wife and child decades ago, and then in a karmic turnaround was abandoned by his second wife, who left with their two teenage sons, Ryan (Gerard Kearns) and Jess (Stephan Gumbs.) These two (neither of whom is biologically related to Eric, by the way) are wreaking havoc – sleeping all day while involved with dangerous criminals all night. But, Eric’s immediate crisis that has caused his vehicular freak-out is brought on by the prospect of facing his first wife Lily (Stephanie Bishop), the love of his life, for the first time in 30 years. The two of them, now grandparents, must take turns babysitting their granddaughter, who they now have to hand off to each other because their daughter Sam (Lucy- Jo Hudson) is finally forced to stop coddling them. To cope, Eric helps himself to a recently discovered pot stash. The next thing we know, Eric Cantona (as himself) materializes, offering sage advice to Eric Bishop through the use of archival clips of some of his greatest football footwork.
It’s a sweet and preposterous little exercise, and is a bit self-serving on Cantona’s part. But then, he’s just so handsome and charming that you can’t help but be drawn in. Credit must also be given to Evets, whose hapless Eric Bishop is just so pathetically funny – with his craggy features and slight frame – that he makes a brilliant partner for the voluptuous Cantona, as the two performers seemingly fight to steal scenes from one another. Ultimately, Looking for Eric is a simple tale of Eric Bishop’s transformation. He has run from responsibility, from intimacy and from friendship for many years. And now, as it all piles up, he’s forced to realize the necessities of caring for and being cared for by others.
The final set piece is an emphatic crescendo – a comedic take on Loach’s championship of the workingman, old labour, and collective mentality. It is here that, despite the many negative stereotypes about soccer hooliganism, the film manages to underscore the essence of what draws so many fans to spectator sports – the coming together of many to root for something; to find comfort or even wisdom in a game that highlights the extraordinary abilities of the physically gifted athletes who play it. And if a person can use this sort fanaticism to inspire positive change in his or her own life, then what’s the harm in that?
Looking for Eric is now playing.
Directed by Ken Loach; written by Paul Laverty; produced Rebecca O’Brien; Director of Photography, Barry Ackroyd; edited by Jonathan Morris; music by George Fenton.
With: Steve Evets (Eric Bishop); Eric Cantona (Himself); Stephanie Bishop (Lily); Gerard Kearns (Ryan); Stephan Gumbs (Jess); Lucy-Jo Hudson (Sam); and John Henshaw (Meatballs.)
By Dianne L. Brooks
