In "United," soccer is described as "beautiful" — a wondrous amalgam of a simple ball, freshly mown grass and men doing godlike things with their feet. Set in Manchester, England, in the 1950s, "United" pays full tribute to this beauty with loving attention to the details of the sport.
Everything from the fire-engine red uniforms of the title team, Manchester United, to the narrow, smoke-filled corridor leading to the players' locker room, to the artistic chaos on the desk of team manager Matt Busby (Dougray Scott), the whole package (originally made for BBC TV) makes you swoon on its expertly executed nostalgia. It's hard to resist comparing the then and now of professional soccer, and how so much of it has been altered (or often defiled) by big money.
Today, professional soccer players rank among the wealthiest people on the planet but "United" reminds us of a time when players earned £15 a week and could hardly scrape the cash together to take a girl dancing. A budding star player was nothing unless he got a slot on United's first team, but once he got there the real, grueling work began.