Bend It Like Beckham is likely to be anointed Britain's version of My Big Fat Greek Wedding.  The comparison is somewhat apt, in that both films are lightweight, accessible, manufactured, simplistic, inoffensive (yet completely unbelievable) flicks with rehashed jokes and scenarios, and – most importantly – packed full of exaggerated stereotypes.  Beyond that, however, Bend It and Greek Wedding are as different as night and day:  The former enjoys as much critical acclaim as it does box office clout, while the latter is generally perceived as overrated swill by people with IQs above 100.

For those of you not in the know, the Beckham in this film's title refers to David Beckham, the all-everything midfielder for England and Manchester United who is such a gifted player that Prime Minister Tony Blair pleaded with his populace to pray for Beckham's pre-World Cup broken ankle last year (and you thought his stance on Iraq was misguided).  He's also the hero of Bend It's protagonist, 18-year-old high school senior Jesminder Bhamra (Parminder K. Nagra).  Jess has a Beckham shrine in her room and aches to play The Beautiful Game as well as he does, as depicted in the opening scene (a dream sequence) involving the legendary John Motson calling a ManU vs. Anderlecht Champions League clash where Beckham assists her winning goal.

Trouble is, Jess is the daughter of very strict Sikh parents, who see in her immediate future either law school or marriage.  Jess has to lie to her family just to steal away and play pickup games in the park near their Hounslow home, which is where she's spotted by tomboy Jules Paxton (Keira Knightley), who recruits an eager Jess to play for her women's club team. But that means more lying and more sneaking around (Jess has one badly scarred leg, and her reluctance to play in shorts serves as a metaphor for her secret life).  The timing isn't very good, either, as Jess's flaky sister Pinky (Archie Panjabi, East is East) is about to be married, so everyone is particularly on edge (and ripe for various comedic situations).

Things proceed quite typically, with Jess and Jules battling over the affections of their Irish coach (Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, Ride With the Devil) while simultaneously trying to keep the wool pulled over the eyes of the Bhamra family. Plenty of gay-related hijinks ensue thanks to Jules's mom (Juliet Stevenson, Nicholas Nickleby), who is concerned about the closeness of the two girls ("Just remember: There's a reason why Sporty Spice is the only one without a fellow").  And Jess's dad (Bollywood legend Anupam Kher) remains so quiet throughout the film, you just know he's going to bust out with some super-wise shit in the last reel.

Chick flicks, by and large, suck copious ass, and sports films aren't usually much better, but Bend It manages to tread in both genres without stinking up the joint.  While the humor (culture clash) and theme (Jess is bending her parents' strict rules like Beckham's rainbow crosses into the box) are hardly anything new, Bend It matches the quality found in recent Brit hits About a Boy and Billy Elliot (the latter shares many similarities with Bend It).  The soundtrack is memorable, with Bally Sagoo's insanely catchy fusion of the music of the two conflicting cultures powering the film like stadium jock rock.  The match scenes were obviously filmed and edited by somebody who knows a thing or two about the game, and the two young actresses are very likeable.  I would not be surprised to see Knightley move on to bigger and better things very quickly.  She's a blonde-haired cross between Winona Ryder and Natalie Portman (she actually played Queen Amidala's double in The Phantom Menace).

Bend It might be the kind of festival film you really dig when you're seeing it with an enthusiastic audience (I saw it at the big fest in Toronto), but then seems much more contrived than you had originally thought when you catch it a second time.  I won't know until I've seen it again, but I do know this:  I've never seen a festival crowd react this positively to a comedy before (it finished second in audience voting for the People's Choice, despite not screening in one of the larger venues).  This and the upcoming Shaolin Soccer might do more to raise the profile of the sport in the US than the quarterfinal appearance by the US men in last year's World Cup.

Bend It, co-written and directed by Gurinder Chadha (What's Cooking?), is also one of only two profitable films (out of 107) that received funding from Britain's National Lottery (the other is Oscar winner Gosford Park). Its $3.5 million budget was easily recouped by staggering grosses in Europe ($18 million in England alone), where the film also found itself nominated for Best Film against The Pianist, Talk To Her and The Hours (by European Film Awards, BAFTA and the British Independent Film Awards – Knightley won British Newcomer of the Year from the London Critics Circle, as well).  Bend It is a critical darling, too, clocking in with 100% positive reviews at Rotten Tomatoes as I write this.

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for language and sexual content