Shooting For Socrates
ARRIVING in the week the Northern Ireland football squad seal their fate in the Euro 2016 qualifiers, Shooting For Socrates is set against the backdrop of their 1986 World Cup campaign.
Director James Erskine's feel-good drama centres on nine-year-old NI fan Tommy (Art Parkinson), who's learning about life via his passion for football and his dad's (Richard Dormer) love of Greek philosophy as he follows the fortunes of the north's 1986 World Cup contenders – a collection of veterans, newbies and misfits who must face off against Brazil's football gods as led by the philosophising sporting genius Socrates de Souza.
Tommy's conduit to the Mexico 86 action? The regular TV reports from embedded local broadcasting legend, Jackie Fullerton (a film-stealing Conleth Hill).
A fun, unfussy watch featuring solid performances from all the main cast members (including John Hannah, Bronagh Gallagher and Ciaran McMenamin), the DVD of this Marie Jones co-written locally shot production features deleted scenes and behind-the-scenes footage.
