Is there not a person in this world, considering that the family dynasty is seldom out of the news for one thing or another, who hasn’t heard the tale of a boy from Leytonstone and a girl from Broxbourne and Goff’s Oak who went out into the world to create a combined global brand from their desire to kick from the halfway line with a little bit of Girl Power?
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Well, fear not, cos Netflix have the next logical step currently playing to record audiences on the channel in BECKHAM. As Jerry Garcia, the late lead singer of The Grateful Dead once asked of Elvis Presley: ‘Where do you go when you achieve absolute success? Las Vegas?’
Well…Netflix it seems, given others like Schwarzenegger and Stallone as well.
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It seems to me that global phenomena – from the UK at least – go West like the Marx Brothers and the Village People and for Adele at least Vegas is currently showcasing her well-liked talents for those willing to travel and pay the difference (she has just renewed a contract for a second stint).
For the family Beckham, it is Miami where Beckham has made his home – well…at present at least, but given the decisions he has taken in his career we can never say never to what he will do next once his Inter Miami team win the US Soccer League for the tenth time with Lionel Messi and others.
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Is there anything new under the sun that we don’t know about in BECKHAM that has not been shown before? Well, yes and no. A lot of the footage on show is actually from previous Beckham-based releases (a lot of the early years footage featured in an Official Manchester United video release around 1996-97 after ‘that kick’ at Selhurst Park) , which is there to provide context.
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We know the beats of the start-off point for the Beckham story – East End lad spotted by Manchester United scout, becomes part of ‘Fergie’s Fledglings‘ and the youth initiative pioneered by Sir Alex Ferguson to help storm onto the title in 1996, a year after Alan Hansen famously spouted on MATCH OF THE DAY: ‘You can’t win anything with kids’.Â
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The halfway line kick is the start off point for Episode One of the four-parter, intercut with the modern Beckham looking at his honey in his private hive and the first signs of his current relationship with Victoria, who we see going off to work.Â
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The beats continue, the courting of Victoria, the qualifier in Rome, the sending off in St. Etienne…Â
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Anyone who watched the second round World Cup match with Argentina recalls as intense a night for England players and fans, particularly after the sending off, which villain Diego Simeone admits in an interview with director Fisher Stevens was exaggerated and prompted referee Kim Milton Nielsen to send Beckham to the showers.
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The documentary does at least provide context to the national vilification of Beckham and the tough time he went through, including Victoria’s own admission that she would like to kill some of those who caused him grief.
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From there, it is the resurrection of St. David which culminated in his one-man team show against Greece in October 2001 at Old Trafford (a little disappointing that there was nothing on reflection about that 5-1 victory against Germany in Munich a month before!).
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All the beats of the story are here, no topic was off-limits (although recent reflections from a certain Ms. Loos have emerged after the release of the documentary, which is mentioned here but not expanded on).
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The ‘Boot-gate’ incident after an Arsenal game which Sir Alex blamed Beckham for is also touched on and his sale to Real Madrid, his transfer to LA Galaxy and his return to Inter Milan to try and get back into the England team, retirement and his endeavours to get soccer on the map in the USA are all included.
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Overall though, the documentary does ground the Beckhams and even if you have got a little sick and tired of seeing them in the media there is a twinge of admiration for their desire to tell their story like it is.
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The enjoyment is seeing some of the between-the-lines footage and personal perspectives that up until now have only been tabloid POVs. Victoria is a lot more animated here and there are some occasional scenes with the children who are making their own way into the world – irrespective of what you may think of Brooklyn’s cooking. I am sure it won’t be long before Harper comes of age like her brothers and blazing a trail like her mother.
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To paraphrase a certain physics law – Girl Power cannot be created or destroyed, merely change from one form to another. We await Harper’s own endeavours with anticipation.
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