Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1203 in DVD
• Released on: 2005-12-26
• Rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 105 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
After the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Elijah Wood could've opted for further big budget epics, but took a sharp left turn with this better-than-average B-movie. Released just after Everything is Illuminated, another offbeat entry, Wood plays journalism student Matt Buckner. In the prologue, he's expelled from Harvard when his over-privileged roommate sets him up to take the fall for his own misdeeds. With nowhere to go, Matt decides to visit his sister, Shannon (Claire Forlani), in London. He's already got a chip on his shoulder when he falls under the sway of Shannon's brother-in-law, Pete (Charlie Hunnam), head of West Ham's football "firm," the Green Street Elite. Matt soon gets caught up in their thuggish antics—to tragic effect. In her feature debut, German-born Lexi Alexander makes a mostly convincing case for the attractions of violence to the emotionally vulnerable, as opposed to the emotionally numb pugilists of the more satirical Fight Club. Unlike David Fincher (by way of Chuck Palahniuk), she plays it straight, except for the stylised fight sequences. Consequently, humour is in short supply, but the young Brit cast, especially Leo Gregory as the surly Bovver, is charismatic and Wood makes his character as believable as possible, i.e. he may seem miscast, but that's the point. Although there's no (direct) correlation between the two, Green Street makes a fine taster for Bill Buford's Among the Thugs, the ultimate dissection of the hooligan mentality. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Synopsis
Matt Buckner (Elijah Wood) is a student who travels to London, where he forms an unlikely bond with his sister’s husband's brother, Pete Dunham (Charlie Hunnam), who introduces him to the world of football hooliganism. Violence breaks out at a West Ham game that Matt attends with Pete and Matt's initial trepidation at the violence swelling around him soon turns into a pulse-racing, visceral thrill. Suddenly finding a taste for the hooligan life, Matt joins Pete's "firm," the Green Street Elite, leading to further booze-fuelled confrontations and providing an opportunity for Matt to keep a journal explaining why he's attracted to such a violent pursuit. Surprisingly, Elijah Wood manages to fit perfectly into a role that seems ill-suited to his elfin, wide-eyed looks. Charlie Hunnam--who starred in the television programmes Queer As Folk and Undeclared--neatly complements Wood as the cockney boy who leads him into danger, and together the two actors manage to carve out convincingly violent characters. Thematically similar to The Football Factory, Green Street mixes loud, energetic soundtrack and roaming, trembling camera work to create a disquieting atmosphere in a movie punctuated with scenes of rampant brutality.

Customer Reviews

when to stand up for yourself and when to walk away
I think a lot of people are missing the point with this film. For me, it was not so much about football violence as about the morals behind it. The main character, Elijah Wood, does not join the Green Street Elite because he enjoys the hooliganism - he joins because he finds a loyalty with them that he never found back home in America (as is highlighted by the opening scene). The fact that the film also makes you care about people you would normally despise (or should despise) shows how effecive it is at portraying the tragedy of such addiction to violence.
Yes, you can find faults with the film - the GSE leader's cockney accent is very dodgy, some scenes verge on the unbelievable. But as for the leader's walk - take a look around and you'll see that it's the way a lot of people walk when they are trying to look like more than they actually are. And Elijah Wood is not miscast - the fact that he does not look like a football hooligan is exactly the point.
The violence in this film is indeed quite graphic, but that doesn't make it glorified - rather it shows how destructive it can be, not just to the individual but to their families too.
The ending - unlike so many films - provides a satisfying conclusion that sums up the entire film. As Elijah says, it's not about brutal, meaningless violence but about learning 'when to stand up for yourself, and when to walk away.' The point of all the brutality in the film becomes clear as Elijah explains what he learnt from the Green Street Elite's excessive use of violence: that there is an alternative, which can be just as effective.
If you really do want a film about football hooliganism, then this may not be for you - try Football Factory. But as a film in itself, this is great.

Ppppffffttttt!
Watched this last night & although it passed the time, it's time that I'll never regain, unfortunately. This is a very cliched & (unintentionally) amusing story of an expelled, soon-to-be graduate from Harvard University esconcing to London to visit his sister. Within 5 minutes of arriving at her door his brother-in-law's younger brother (played by Charlie Hunnam, with the most pathetic attempt at a Cockney accent EVER!) is persuaded to take this Yank to see West Ham. A ruck ensues & young Frodo finds himself initiated into the feared Green Street Elite. Like that would happen. Before we know it he's involved in more scraps & finds himself seemingly enjoying the adrenaline rush. Elijah Wood is hopelessly miscast in this role considering he looks as if John Inman would take him out (in a fighting sense!) There's the usual storyline of betrayal-before-redemption & the denoument is cringeworthy: Wood, arms raised, belting out "I'm forever blowing bubbles" as he walks down a quiet American street after sorting out his university nemesis.
This is a film for the lads-mag reader out there ("Nuts" quote on the cover) who seemingly can't get enough of ultraviolent football capers. Everyone else avoid.

Gripping , ultra violent viewing
This film really works. It is a disturbing look at the football hooligan phenomenon of the 1980's and centres on a mild mannered American's (Elijah Wood) unlikely involvement with a violent gang of West Ham United thugs. It is certainly hard to see Wood (Frodo from "LOTR") as a gouging ,"I'm forever blowing Bubbles" chanting hooligan as the fists and boots fly all around him, but it is a tribute to the film that his role is credible . However Charlie Hunman steals the show as the charismatic leader of the "Green Street" mob with a phenomenal, visceral acting performance. The violent scenes are extremely realistic, bloody and disturbing. Not a film for the squeamish, but a memorable one nonetheless.