From the get-go, Victoria “Posh Spice” Beckham makes it clear that she’s not into football. Not at all. I’m not much into football either, well, soccer because I’m American, but it can’t be denied that David Beckham has always been a force to be reckoned with. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve seen Bend It Like Beckham.
Beckham started young, first coming to Manchester United’s youth division at age 13. From the start, he seemed special, and not just for the athletics. Like Steve Prefontaine, Joe Montana and Michael Jordan, Beckham’s prowess was heightened by his charisma, making him more of a rock star than a footballer.
The documentary, which is divided into four parts, sticks to Beckham’s career, although we get a teeny tiny bit about his earlier life. Not much, though. We’re here for the football, and the series focuses on Beckham’s time on the field and his various career moves, not to mention his and Victoria’s marriage.
It’s mostly about keeping truthful, and many reviewers have pointed out the scene in which Posh says she and Becks both came from working class families. Becks sticks his head around the door and reminds her with a twinkle in his eye to be honest. It’s not until Becks asks Posh what kind of car her dad drove in the nineteen eighties that she finally admits her family was well-off.
On the other hand, the series doesn’t go all that much into the controversies; namely Beckham’s alleged affair with Rebecca Loos. Victoria’s obvious pain in talking about Beckham’s time in Madrid says that there’s probably still quite a bit that hasn’t healed or at least been dealt with in some way, although Beckham is clearly sorry for what happened.
I wanted to get excited about this series. I didn’t hate it, but I didn’t like it as much as I probably could have. There’s a lot of interesting information and the footage reminds us all over again why Beckham is a remarkable footballer, but in the end I was left feeling mostly nonplussed and held a little bit at arm’s length. And things felt a wee bit repetitive—after the first four or five times of seeing Beckham propel a soccer ball past a hopelessly outmatched goalie it becomes less and less riveting.
It’s not that the Beckhams needed to get super personal and exploitative because boundaries are necessary things. Problem is, the information that’s given seems pretty safely in the realm of what’s already been said over the years in articles and news reports and so on. The only part that goes beyond that is when we see Becks at home playing soccer with his son, roasting chickens in his kitchen and goofing around with his family. That’s when I felt less like an intruder and more like a guest.
I have to wonder how fans who have followed Beckham more closely over the past thirty years see a documentary like this. Are they disappointed in moving only slightly past what they already know, or are they just happy to see Beckham no matter what? It would be interesting to find out.
Beckham is currently streaming on Netflix. Rated TV-MA.
My grade: B+
Principal Cast: David Beckham, Victoria Beckham, Ted and Sandra Beckham, Gary Neville, Eric Cantona, Sir Alex Ferguson, Rio Ferdinand, Paul Scholes, Roy Keane, Melanie Chisholm (aka Sporty Spice), Diego Simeone, Carlos Queiroz, Luís Figo, Míchel Salgado, Florentino Pérez, Roberto Carlos, Ronaldo Nazário, Fabio Capello.
Directed by Fisher Stevens.
Written by Alexander Hodgson.