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 the next 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, has 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 to develop up their own, different story and Cantona agreed to participate.
The film is about the search for two Eric’s: Cantona but mainly Eric Bishop (Steve Evets) who we first meet circling in one of those insane “roundabouts” in Manchester, but as it 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, and then in a karmic turnaround was abandoned by the second, who left with 2 teenage sons, Ryan (Gerard Kearns) and Jess (Stephan Gumbs.) These two, neither of whom are biologically related to Eric by the way, are wreaking havoc: sleeping all day, involved with dangerous criminals all night. But Eric’s immediate crisis that caused the vehicular freak out was brought on by the prospect of facing Lily (Stephanie Bishop): the wife he abandoned and the love of his life who he hasn’t seen in 30 years. They are taking turns babysitting their granddaughter, who they now have to to hand off to each other because their daughter Sam (Lucy- Jo Hudson) if finally forced to stop coddling them. To cope Eric helps himself to a recently discovered pot stash and the next thing you know Eric number 2 materializes, offering sage advice as well as archival clips of some of his greatest football footwork.
It’s a sweet and preposterous little exercise, a bit self-serving on Cantona’s part but then he’s just so handsome and charming you can’t help but be drawn in. Credit must also goes to Evets, whose hapless Eric is just so pathetically funny, with his craggy features and slight frame, he makes a brilliant partner for the voluptuous Cantona, both fighting to steal the scene. Ultimately it’s a simple tale of Eric’s transformation. He’s run from responsibility, from intimacy, from friendship, and as it all piles up he’s forced to realize the necessity of caring for and be cared for by others.
The final set piece is an emphatic crescendo, a comedic take on Loach’s championship of the working man, old labour, collective mentality. With so many negative stereotypes about soccer hooliganism, this film plays up the experience for most spectator sports fans - coming together to root for something, a game that isn’t exactly gladiatorial but which highlights the extraordinary abilities of the physically gifted. And if you can use that to inspire you to change your life, what’s the harm.
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.)
