''Shooting for Socrates'' is a 2014 Irish film co-written and directed by

James Erskine James Erskine may refer to: *James Erskine, 6th Earl of Buchan (died 1640) *James Erskine, 7th Earl of Buchan (died 1664), Earl of Buchan *Sir James Erskine, 2nd Baronet (c. 1670–1693), of the Erskine baronets *James Erski ...

and starring John Hannah,

Richard Dormer Richard Dormer (born 11 November 1969) is an actor and playwright from Northern Ireland. He is best known for his roles as Beric Dondarrion in the HBO television series ''Game of Thrones'' and Dan Anderssen in Sky Atlantic's '' Fortitude''. Ea ...

and Sergio Mur as Brazilian footballer

Sócrates Sócrates Brasileiro Sampaio de Souza Vieira de Oliveira (19 February 1954 – 4 December 2011), simply known as Sócrates , was a Brazilian footballer who played as a midfielder. His medical degree and his political awareness, combined with s ...

Plot

During the

1986 FIFA World Cup The 1986 FIFA World Cup was the 13th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June 1986. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-tea ...

the

Northern Ireland national football team The Northern Ireland national football team represents Northern Ireland in men's international association football. From 1882 to 1950, all of Ireland was represented by a single side, the Ireland national football team (1882–1950), Ireland ...

play against

Brazil national football team The Brazil national football team (), nicknamed ''Seleção Canarinho'' ("Canary Squad", after their bright yellow jersey), represents Brazil in men's international Association football, football and is administered by the Brazilian Football Co ...

in one of the most memorable games in Irish footballing history. The film follows the lives of passionate football supporter Arthur and his son Tommy from East Belfast. The lead up to a momentous day in the life of a young boy (his 10th birthday) mirrors the buildup to the big day for the football team as they play the greatest match of their lives.

Cast

* John Hannah as

Billy Bingham William Laurence Bingham (5 August 1931 – 9 June 2022) was a Northern Ireland international footballer and manager. As a player, his first professional club was Glentoran, for whom he played between 1948 and 1950. Making a move to England, ...

Conleth Hill Conleth Seamus Eoin Croiston Hill (born 24 November 1964) is a Northern Irish actor. He has performed on stage in productions in the UK, Ireland, Canada and the US. He has won two Laurence Olivier Awards and received two Tony Award nominations. ...

Jackie Fullerton John Alexander Fullerton,
Belfast Telegraph: 15 May 2003; accessed 19 Jan ...

as Arthur *

Nico Mirallegro Nico Cristian Mirallegro ( ; born 26 January 1991) is an English actor. He is best known for his roles as Barry "Newt" Newton in the soap opera ''Hollyoaks'' (2007–2010), Finn Nelson in ''My Mad Fat Diary'' (2013–2015), Joe Middleton in ...

as David Campbell * Ciaran McMenamin as

Sammy McIlroy Samuel Baxter McIlroy (born 2 August 1954) is a Northern Irish retired footballer who played for Manchester United, Stoke City, Manchester City, Örgryte (Sweden), Bury, VfB Mödling (Austria), Preston North End and the Northern Ireland na ...

* Barry Ward as Jimmy Quinn *

Bronagh Gallagher Bronagh Gallagher (born 26 April 1972) is an Irish singer and actress from Northern Ireland. She had her first acting role in the 1989 television movie '' Dear Sarah''. In 2020, she was listed at number 33 on ''The Irish Times'' list of Irela ...

as Irene *Paul Kennedy as

Pat Jennings Patrick Anthony Jennings (born 12 June 1945) is a Northern Irish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He is widely recognised as one of the greatest goalkeepers in the history of the sport and was nominated for the Ball ...

* Chris Newman as

Norman Whiteside Norman Whiteside (born 7 May 1965) is a Northern Irish former professional footballer who played as a midfielder and striker. Whiteside began his career at Manchester United, signing professional forms in 1982 at the age of 17 and quickly be ...

Aaron McCusker Aaron McCusker is a Northern Irish actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Jamie Maguire in the Channel 4's television series '' Shameless'' and Jim Hutton, Freddie Mercury's boyfriend, in the 2018 feature film '' Bohemian Rhapsody''. E ...

as Gerry Armstrong * Sergio Mur as

*Matthew McElhinney as

Jimmy Nicholl James Michael Nicholl (born 28 December 1956) is a Northern Irish former professional footballer who played for several clubs, including Manchester United and Rangers. He was mainly a right-back but could also play in other defensive roles. N ...

* Art Parkinson as Tommy * Stephen Hagan as Phil Hughes *Andy Moore as

Mal Donaghy Malachy Martin Donaghy (born 13 September 1957 in Belfast) is a former Northern Ireland international footballer who played for Luton Town and Manchester United. Career Club career Originally from West Belfast, began his football career as a g ...

*Patrick Buchanan as Alan McDonald *

Gerard Jordan Gerard Jordan is an actor from Belfast, Northern Ireland. Career He is best known for his recurring roles in the Northern Irish TV series '' Pulling Moves'' (2004) and in BBC's '' The Fall'' (2013–2014), and for his portrayal of Biter in the H ...

as Albert Kirk * Packy Lee as Wigsy

Production

The scenes of the game in

Estadio Jalisco Jalisco Stadium is a football stadium located in Guadalajara, Mexico. It is the third-largest Mexican football stadium behind Estadio Azteca and Estadio Olímpico Universitario with a capacity of 56,713 spectators. History Estadio Jalisco w ...

Guadalajara Guadalajara ( ; ) is the capital and the most populous city in the western Mexican List of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco, as well as the most densely populated municipality in Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population ...

were recreated on Northern Ireland's home turf of

Windsor Park The National Football Stadium at Windsor Park (officially the Clearer Twist National Stadium at Windsor Park for sponsorship reasons), or the National Football Stadium, also known as Windsor Park is a association football, football stadium in B ...

in Belfast.

Release

The film had a limited cinema release in June 2015 before being released on DVD in October 2015. It was "DVD of the Week" in the

Irish News Irish commonly refers to: * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the island and the sovereign state *** Erse (disambiguati ...

Reception

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, 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 ...

, the film holds an approval rating of 29% based on 7 reviews, with an average rating of 4.67/10.

References

2014 films Biographical films about sportspeople Irish association football films Irish sports drama films Cultural depictions of Brazilian people Cultural depictions of association football players 2010s sports drama films Films about The Troubles (Northern Ireland) {{sport-film-stub