''Looking for Eric'' is a 2009 British-French film about the escape from the trials of modern life that

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

and its heroes can bring for its fans. It was written by screenwriter

Paul Laverty Paul Laverty (born 1957) is a screenwriter and lawyer best known for his screenplays for films directed by Ken Loach. Birth and early career Paul Laverty was born in Calcutta, West Bengal, to an Irish mother and Scottish father. He was educat ...

and directed by the English director

Ken Loach Kenneth Charles Loach (born 17 June 1936) is a British film director and screenwriter. His socially critical directing style and socialist ideals are evident in his film treatment of social issues such as poverty ('' Poor Cow'', 1967), homelessn ...

. The film's cast includes the former professional footballer

Eric Cantona Eric Daniel Pierre Cantona (; ; born 24 May 1966) is a French actor, director, producer, and former professional footballer. Often regarded as one of the greatest players of his generation, Cantona is credited as having made Manchester United a d ...

and Steve Evets, former bass guitarist with The Fall. Loach said of the film, "We wanted to deflate the idea of celebrities as more than human. And we wanted to make a film that was enjoying the idea of what you and I would call solidarity, but what others would call support for your friends really, and the old idea that we are stronger as a team than we are as individuals."

Plot

Eric Bishop is a football fanatic postman whose life is descending into crisis. Looking after his granddaughter is bringing him into contact with his ex-wife, Lily, whom he abandoned after the birth of their daughter. At the same time, his stepson Ryan is hiding a gun under the floorboards of his bedroom for a violent drugs baron. At his lowest moments, Bishop considers suicide. But after a short meditation session with fellow postmen in his living room, and smoking

cannabis ''Cannabis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae. The number of species within the genus is disputed. Three species may be recognized: '' Cannabis sativa'', '' C. indica'', and '' C. ruderalis''. Alternative ...

stolen from his stepson, hallucinations bring forth his footballing hero, the famously philosophical

, who gives him advice. His relationship with Lily improves dramatically. Bishop finds the gun and confronts his stepson. Ryan admits to his involvement with the drugs gang, and Bishop attempts to return the gun to the gangster. He is forced to keep it himself, however, when a

Rottweiler The Rottweiler (, ) is a breed of domestic dog, regarded as medium-to-large or large. The dogs were known in German as , meaning Rottweil butchers' dogs, because their main use was to herd livestock and pull carts laden with butchered meat ...

is set on him in his car. The gangster then posts footage on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

of Bishop's humiliation. The entire family is then arrested by the

police The police are a Law enforcement organization, constituted body of Law enforcement officer, persons empowered by a State (polity), state, with the aim to law enforcement, enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citize ...

on a tip-off but they fail to find the gun as it is hidden in the fridge, inside a frozen chicken. Eric Cantona then advises Bishop to seek help from his friends and to 'surprise' himself. Bishop organises 'Operation Cantona', sneaking dozens of fellow

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...

fans – wearing Cantona masks (including Cantona himself) – into the gangster's house and humiliating him and his family, threatening to put the video of their operation onto YouTube, in turn. The film ends at Bishop's daughter's graduation day, where the family reunites in peace.

Cast

Production

The film was shot on location in Greater Manchester by Loach's company Sixteen Films.

Release

The film competed in the main competition at the

62nd Cannes Film Festival The 62nd Cannes Film Festival was held from 13 May to 24 May 2009. French actress Isabelle Huppert was the President of the Jury. Twenty films from thirteen countries were selected to compete for the Palme d'Or. The awards were announced on 23 M ...

. It had its UK premiere on 1 June in Lowry Outlet Mall in Salford Quays, attended by Eric Cantona, and was the gala presentation at the opening night of the

Sydney Film Festival The Sydney Film Festival is an annual competitive film festival held in Sydney, Australia, usually over 12 days in June. A number of awards are given, the top one being the Sydney Film Prize. the festival's director is Nashen Moodley. Histo ...

on 3 June. The film was released in the United Kingdom and Ireland on 12 June. The film was scheduled to be shown at the

Melbourne International Film Festival The Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) is an annual film festival held over three weeks in Melbourne, Australia. It was founded in 1952 and is one of the oldest film festivals in the world following the founding of the Venice Film Fes ...

, but five days before opening night Loach withdrew it because the film festival was "in receipt of financial support from the State of Israel".

Screenplay

The book for ''Looking For Eric'' is published by Route Publishing. It includes the full screenplay, extra scenes, colour photographs from the film and on set, and introductions from Paul Laverty, Ken Loach, Eric Cantona and production notes from the cast and crew.

Reception

As of January 2020, ''Looking for Eric'' has an 85% rating on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

from 99 reviews. The film won the

Magritte Award for Best Film in Coproduction The 1st Magritte Awards ceremony, presented by the Académie André Delvaux, honored the best films of 2010 in Belgium and took place on 5 February 2011 at the Square in the historic site of Mont des Arts, Brussels, beginning at 7:30 p.m. C ...

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

, who had praised many of Ken Loach's previous works, gave the film two stars out of four. He said that he was surprised by the break from Loach's previous social realism, although he also said that Cantona was successful in his role. Ebert said that "Steve Evets uses a Manchester accent so thick that many of the English themselves might not be able to understand it. Eric Cantona, who is French, is easier to understand." Ebert had in the past defended Loach's use of Yorkshire dialect in the film '' Kes'', which prevented the film from attaining a release in the US as it was not widely understood.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Looking For Eric 2009 films 2009 comedy-drama films British association football films Belgian sports comedy films English-language French films English-language Belgian films English-language Spanish films English-language Italian films Films scored by George Fenton Films directed by Ken Loach Films set in 2009 Films set in Manchester Films shot in England Film4 Productions films 2000s French-language films Italian sports comedy-drama films Magritte Award winners Spanish sports comedy-drama films British comedy-drama films French association football films Films shot in Greater Manchester 2000s English-language films Belgian sports drama films Belgian comedy-drama films 2000s British films 2000s French films