Salford-born Steve Evets scores a hattrick for British film in this comic socio-drama as Eric- an aging, downtrodden 'posty', whose football hero Eric Cantona appears as his bedside angel. Smouldering with philosphy and charm, the iconic Cantona nurtures the strength and self-esteem within Eric that leads to seemingly psychotic and hilarious changes in his behaviour. Incessantly dragging on a rollie, Eric demonstrates vulnerability and pride in facing up to his ghosts while in Marseillan tones Cantona reels off changing-room mottos and plays the trumpet.
Drowning in the clutter of unfinished washing, beer cans, duvets and unposted letters Eric's ex-lover 'Lily' is the antithesis of his degenerative existence in purity of name, manner and appearance. His memory of her is immortalised in a postcard of a white dove on his mantelpiece and when he first sees her after many years she has 'looked after herself....not like me'. She is a radiant with shiny hair while he feels 'outside of my body looking down on myself as a scruffy old dog', humiliated and self-loathing. Through intimate dialogues wth Cantona and Eric, the audience is captivated by Eric's embarrassments, paranoia, frustrations and most significantly his sense of loneliness. As Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver is saved by the soft allure of an Iris, Eric Bishop is saved by a Lily. Beyond these peeling walls, Eric is excitable from the episodic swirl of legendary football montages that demonstrate Cantona's god-like status in this piece (Cue: I am not a man. I am Cantona).
Legend cultivates loser and fellowship defeats foe as desperate Eric defies the philosophy that 'las plus noble des vengeances est de pardonner'. The naturalistic feel of the film, thematically typical of socialist director Ken Loach engages us with emotive and exhilarating scenes of working class comaraderie, friendship, love, and the power of the collective.
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