Moves along crisply with, mercifully, very little on-pitch football and many beautifully crafted, touching moments.

The story should have added up to an interesting and exciting movie, but it didn't for me. It was not due to Sheen's acting, but rather to a boring and confusing script.

The Damned United eliminates the existential anguish and pain that propelled Peace's novel, and curtails its lowering style.

While the movie sensibly focuses on a relatively short period of Clough's career to tell its story, there's no escaping the liberties it takes with what actually happened, something that is likely to make soccer fans who know their history tune out.