Cass Movie
Storyline
TAGLINES
The hardest fight is knowing who you are.
The incredible true story of how an orphaned Jamaican baby, adopted by an elderly white couple and brought up in an all white area of London, became one of the most feared and respected men in Britain. CASS grew up in a time before political correctness and was forced to endure racist bullying on a daily basis, until one day when the years of pent up anger came out in a violent burst. CASS found through violence the respect he never had and became addicted to the buzz of fighting. His way of life finally caught up with him when an attempted assassination on his life, saw him shot three times at point blank range. His inner strength somehow managed to keep him alive but he was left with a dilemma; whether to seek vengeance as the street had taught him, or renounce his violent past. This is the extraordinary story of his life.
| Nonso Anozie | Cass |
| Nathalie Press | Elaine |
| Leo Gregory | Freeman |
| Gavin Brocker | Prentice |
| Nick Bartlett | Pub regular |
| Geoffrey Beevers | Vicar |
| Jack Bence | Teenage Bully |
| Mario Demetriou | Greek Waiter |
| Winston Ellis | Zulu |
| Robbie Gee | Marlon |
| Tamer Hassan | Ray |
| Ralph Ineson | Sergeant Mullins |
| Jack Johnson | Young Freeman |
| Daniel Kaluuya | Young Cass - age 14 |
| Jon S. Baird |
6.70 out of 10 (73 votes)
Visitor Reviews
Over Ambitious, Under Resourced Biopic
posted on 09 Jul 2009As a contemporary of Pennant, and veteran of the 1970's and 1980's terrace culture,I was keen for this film to succeed. Sadly, with some good intentions, it fails, and joins the other flawed attempts to recreate the halcyon days of the hooligan. The authenticity of the background to the film is often well observed. But Director Jon Baird fails to have the expertise, or I suspect the budget, to faithfully realise the period..Pennant's biography is well written, and a good read. It also covers over 40 years. A 108 minute screen running time, was always likely to be crippled by compromise, vignette and crude symbolism, and so it turns out. His story does have dramatic potential and sociological significance but neither Baird nor Pennant have the discipline or know- how to deliver it.For lovers of football violence, there is not a lot of it. Three 20 a side rucks with Wolves, Leeds and Newcastle are the set pieces. For an 18 Certificate the grizzly reality of these confrontations is pretty sanitised giving succour to the dreamy, romantic retrospection that it was just like minded boys fighting, and finding a sense of family in hooligan gangs.The key scene when one of Pennants lieutenants gets jumped by three Arsenal thugs and is slashed to ribbons needing 1000 stitches is strangely understated .Its setting is grimly authentic, three against one, the assailants armed, no chance of defence or escape for the victim. Yet we see only the healed welts on the victims face some time later, not the grim reality of a cowardly, bloody attack.As a child the casual racism and bullying which "Carol" suffers, alongside a complete lack of personal identity, is well observed. Bravely, time is also found for racism he suffers at the hands of a black Rasta in jail. When his mother dies unexpectedly, his remorse at not having told her how much he loved her is genuinely poignant. Sadly though, these promising scenes are sketched in the same shorthand as the violent ones , which is very frustrating.The "rucks" themselves are fleshed out with some ageing faces from the past, Bill Gardener,Mark Chester from Stoke, and Gilly from Wolves amongst them. It does not help the realism of the scenes to have time worn middle aged men in amongst what was a pretty exclusively young crowd at the time. This sop to some old boys to enable them to relive their youth is pretty risible. Equally Pennant himself appears uncredited as a bouncer alongside Frank Bruno, also uncredited.West Ham's North Bank and Chicken Run are not mentioned once, the South Bank gets two unreferenced name checks.One of the best moments in the book is when Pennant steps in to save a random black kid from getting a beating from some racist skinheads – only to discover that he has saved Frank Bruno! Pennants close subsequent links with the boxing fraternity are only dealt with in short hand in the film and his chance meeting with a similarly incarcerated Ambrose Mendy left out all together, as is, inexplicably, his "saving" of Bruno.Virtual unknown Nonso Anozeo, successfully carries off the role of the adult Pennant.Tamer Hassan plays a convincing cameo as boxer Ray.. Otherwise the ensemble provides background only to the main events. However the fundamental rush of football hooliganism, the massed clashes of sometimes several thousand protagonists is missing. As others have found ,it is very difficult to recreate with so many of the old grounds gone. What grounds and stands do remain are out of bounds to "hoolie" film makers from clubs eager to protect their sanitised reputation.The hackneyed use of Thatcherite film clips as she pronounces on a subject she knows nothing about is cheap and adds nothing. Amusingly, shots of the infamous Millwall riot at Luton are shown twice, but Millwall, the ICF's great rivals are not mentioned once.As a stand alone bio pic this is poor. Pennant is no Mandela. If you were there, there is enough to keep your interest but not enough to win your praise. In aiming to be more than a "hoolie film", this bio pic tries to achieve much, but ultimately falls victim to its own over ambition and vanity.
Interesting biopic, not such good acting
posted on 21 Jun 2009This film was of a real interest to me as it was produced by the same producer as Green Street, and having watched it I feel more informed, if a little frustrated.The film centres around the character of Cass Pennant, a real life hooligan and 80's icon for hooliganism. Adopted into a white family, in an age of racism and violence, Cass finds his natural environment in the place where you would have thought he would be the biggest victim.The script is based on Cass Pennants book 'Cass', and you can't help but feel it was copied and pasted from novel to script. The main problem is that this could have been one of the best football thug films if they had managed to get decent actors. Not that they don't do a good job, its just not great. Nonso Anozie is pretty good as the main character Cass, its interesting to see a generally soft natured character flip out now and again in a hooligan film instead of the typical hot-headed cockney. The rest of the cast however don't support him very well, and it seems as though they are forcing the drama rather than acting in a biopic. Overall though, its an interesting insight into a real character in hooliganism, how he ended up, and kept going back, in the hooligan 'business'. If you are looking for another rise of the foot-soldier or a football factory type film, then this may not be for you.
great lead performance by Anozie
posted on 05 Jun 2009i 100% disagree withe davideo-2 about this feature. the only thing that lets this film down is the over use of a black screen fade out between scenes and the apparent low budget. The use of the news reel footage of what was happening at the time adds nothing but realism to the situations that were happening at the time. Any attempt to try and reenact scenes such as the heisel disaster would have looked cheap and insulted the memory of those who lost lives and loved ones on that tragic day. Yes the editing could have been better but for what essentially is a low budget film by a fairly inexperienced director it is an entertaining viewpoint into the life of one of Britain's most famous football casuals. The acting was brilliant all round and most of the fight scenes well choreographed even if they did lack the gore of rise of the foot soldier (a brilliant film about the life of Carlton leech) or the high budget effects of greenstreet (a Hollywood let down in the football violence genre) yes this is no ID or The Firm but it is a good honest insight into what went on and IS based on real events unlike the aforementioned 2 films
well worth a watch
posted on 02 Apr 2009I thought after reading some of the bad comments on this film that I should leave a comment. The film seems to capture 80's England and I thought it gripping and flowed at a good pace to keep my interest to the very end - (my wife says I nearly always fall asleep before the end of a film). I watched this DVD with my 18yr old daughter who also enjoyed it as good entertainment and a brief historic view to what football hooligans were like, she had no idea this happened back then. I also agree the use of news footage from the time only adds to how genuine this film feels. Nice to see ex West Ham and Celtic striker getting a very small part in the pub in Newcastle.
Powerful story of a rise against racism and oppression
posted on 17 Mar 2009I wouldn't usually bother leaving a comment, but I just finished watching Cass and was surprised to see people had slated the film here at IMDb.. perhaps leaving other folk interested in unique individuals worth reading about to overlook such a powerful story.If you are looking for consistent violence in a movie, it's not the movie your looking for. This film, and the underline story, is one of someones rise from ultimately unfair odd's.. and onto the best at what was offered. This also offers a valuable insight into an otherwise mindless brute, and to see the notions for his behaviour..Bottom line: Watch the movie if you detest racism.. don't bother if your going to overlook all that and have a whine at the end because you didn't see enough blood.
Much more than a 'hooligan' film.
posted on 23 Feb 2009Depth of story. Much more than a hooligan film. Many funny and ironic moments also. This will be enjoyed by football lads as well as general cinema goers. Looks like it could be a cult movie. I will definitely be buying the DVD. Good character development throughout the film. Most of the acting very convincing. Also attention to detail in the 60's and 70's scenes looked very authentic. Some hard scenes but overall good fun. Cameo appearances from some interesting sportsmen! Also touches on race issues of past decades. I never realised film was over 90 minutes until I left the cinema. All in all very enjoyable and I would recommend it!
Good old Football Hooligan stuff
posted on 24 Jan 2009Don't watch this expecting another 'the Firm', this film is good, but is not in the same league. I have read several books on the subject (although none of Cass's) and this film was as I would have expected. I was disappointed it didn't really show the main gang ever get a whooping, I know West Ham had a big 'firm', but I'm sure they got a beating some times. This film doesn't have the violence of 'Rise of the foot soldier', but has a really good atmosphere, something you can only find in a good British film set in this era. If you liked 'Rise of the foot soldier' and 'Football Factory', you will like this, in fact the only thing missing from this film is Danny Dyer.
bang , bang!!....
posted on 22 Jan 2009The incredible true story of how an orphaned Jamaican baby, adopted by an elderly white couple and brought up in an all white area of London, became one of the most feared and respected men in Britain. Cass grew up in a time before political correctness and was forced to endure racist bullying on a daily basis, until one day when the years of pent up anger came out in a violent burst. Cass found through violence the respect he never had and became addicted to the buzz of fighting. His way of life finally caught up with him when an attempted assassination on his life, saw him shot three times at point blank range. His inner strength somehow managed to keep him alive but he was left with a dilemma; whether to seek vengeance as the street had taught him, or renounce his violent past.another real life story about a football hooligan, always goes down well with a certain demographic who like these sort of movies. it's not a bad thing though and the performances hold the story together.some of the usual suspects are here though, Tammer Hassan for one, you will find him in hundreds of these films playing the same role, but he does it well so he's a welcome addition.it tells the story of his life well, never glamorising his life or his acts, and it's quite depressing in some scenes, but this is the eighties, and times were not good for the working class Brit.it's not the best film made, but a film about a football hooligan is never going to please a lot of people, but compared to films such as 'rise of the foot soldier' and 'essex boys', it does stand above the crowd.plus frank Bruno's in it..
Not just another hooligan film: works as a good drama in its own right
posted on 20 Jan 2009Sure Cass is about hooliganism and has enough of that to fit the bill, but this is good enough to be mainstream viewing.We found it much better than we expected: good central performances and a great arc lift this from its genre to something better.It really looks and sounds (the language is what is was, every second word is filth, but then it was) like the British East End 80s down to the council flat doors.I can honestly recommend this a good well-made film about life in Britain in the early 80s, it is a little light on production and directing values, it is shot too simplistically, but the story is well delivered, it is probably not for your granny (unless she's a hard nut), but deserves a wider audience than just 20 year old males with a footie hard on.
Barnardo's Bovver Boy.
posted on 18 Jan 2009This is the film adaptation of how one Carol "Cass" Pennant rose from being an orphaned black boy, adopted by a white middle aged couple, to being a leader of the notorious football hooligan firm, The ICF.You know what's funny,? that one of the most well known names in the world of British Football Hooliganism is the last in the line of football violence related medium's. Had this film, and Cass' book been ten years ago, it surely would have had a greater impact. Going back to when the Brimson Brothers decided to write about a topic nobody but those involved understood in the mid 90s {source Everywhere We Go}, there has been books galore from what seems almost every footie hoolie mob going. Throw in all the films and documentaries that have found a distributor since Gary Oldman starrer, The Firm 1988 {ID, Football Factory, Green Street and The Rise Of A Footsoldier etc}, well it's a pretty exhausted subject. So much so, that it's only really those of a certain age, and of an inclination to the topic, that can get much out of what essentially feels like a belated cash in.In Cass' favour is that Pennant does have an interesting back story from which to launch from. His upbringing, and early struggles with racism is nicely dealt with. It put me in mind with Caroline Gall's book about hooligan outfit Zulu Warriors, where the black and white mix of races became united at football matches {see what I mean about this film trailing in others wake's}. So it be with Cass, it does have a bit of heart to go with its obvious shouty muscle. But here in lies another problem with the film, where does it want to go,? what is it asking or telling us,? is Cass conflicted emotionally,? or is he merely using his troubled youth as an excuse for pounding some poor Newcastle fans head in?. Pertinent questions that aren't properly answered I feel. There's a nice sequence with Cass in prison, as his racial standing is called into question by a patois spouting convict, but outside of that the film flits between being about a troubled man to an all punching thug. Something that, as I mentioned earlier, is pretty much old hat now guv.Nonso Anozie does good work as Pennant, and Natalie Press continues to be effective in these type of roles {see Fifty Dead Men Walking}, while the underused Tamer Hassan asserts his scenes in another typecast role. I personally enjoyed the film because I can see that those involved thought a good film could be made about the matters at hand, but I'm afraid that anyone hoping for something fresh are in for one big let down. 6/10
Average Brit Hooligan Flick
posted on 14 Jan 2009This is the bio-pic of Cass Pennant who rose through the ranks of the much feared West Ham Inter-City Firm of football casuals . What makes it slightly different from other films in the sub genre is that the protagonist is black when being being black was unfashionable to say the least . The audience are left with the feeling that screenwriter /director Jon S Baird is trying to tell a story of social relevance involving a black child being adopted by a white couple but decided to just chronicle the activities of the ICF since this is the selling point of the movie For a film that involves a football tribe it's rather average with the usual shouts of " FAHK " and " KANT " in mockney accents which probably sums up how self limiting the hooligan sub genre is . There's nothing you've got here that hasn't been done before and has probably been done better in THE FOOTBALL FACTORY . Perhaps the worst failing is the lead performance by Nonso Anozie as the eponymous anti hero . It's not a bad performance at all but Anozie comes across as being far too likable to play someone who breaks heads for a hobby
Disappointing latest entry into the 'football hooligan' movie genre
posted on 11 Aug 2008STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning A film highlighting the true story of Cass Pennant (Nonso Anozie) a baby born to a Jamaican mother who was raised by a white working class couple who's doorstep he landed on. The film charts his youth getting his first taste of football violence in it's heyday of the early 70s, through to a decade later when he was leading London's top firm The ICF (Inter City Firm) into battle, which ended up getting him a lengthy spell in jail. He came out and tried to turn his life around, getting into the nightclub doorman business, but his past caught up with him and after an attempt on his life, he turned his back on his old life for good, and is now respected as a renowned author.After the true life story of Carlton Leach was documented in the woeful misfire Rise of the Foot Soldier, Cass arrives trying to do the same thing with (black) ICF leader Pennant. "The Football Factory meets This is England" a praise caption (for want of better phrasing) proclaimed when I first saw the poster for this. Okay, already I was thinking 80s Britain, Thatcher, hooliganism, a bit grim. I wasn't disappointed in this respect, but in others Cass did disappoint me quite badly.For a film that's ended up on the big screen, the film looks remarkably cheap, like it's more suited as a TV film than here. Up until the end, for some reason director Jon S Baird has shot his film in a grainy, blurry style that you can't help but notice. Maybe this was to help give off a feel of how bleak and grim life in England during the 70s and 80s was, but it didn't come off as too subtle with me. The use of stock footage from old news reels showing the football violence also didn't help in this respect. But aside from this, the film goes to great pains to dramatize Cass's life story veering away from any exciting football action, but rather than involve us in the end the film has come off more as dull and boring unfortunately.The film benefits from an undeniably fine lead performance from Anozie as the titular character, an articulate thug with a lot of pent up anger in him but who also has an intelligent side that comes to be his guiding light. He does try and justify his actions at points by blaming them on Thatcher, as when talking about his clashes with police at games, saying 'they were her army versus ours' without realizing no matter heavy handed they might have been, they were trying to stop violence rather than cause it. Nathalie Press as the girl who becomes his wife tries hard but her voice is rather annoying and grating and this put me off a bit. Leo Gregory, who was also in Green Street, is good in a supporting role as Cass's mate. Tamer Hassan does his usual glaring, quietly menacing hardman act and Dennis Pennis himself Paul Kaye also does well as the man behind Cass's shooting. Performances wise, there's really nothing wrong with the film, it's in other areas it lets itself down.The distributors picked a stupid time to release it, as it really didn't stand a chance at this time of year, up against bigger films like The Dark Knight, the new X-Files film and The Love Guru. I remember seeing a little feature on it on the news, which now makes me think it was just desperate for any publicity it could get. It had about one showing time when I went to see it, but the theatre was packed and it seems to have had a stay of execution for this week too, so maybe it'll do better than it seemed.It's not awful by any means, with some strong performances and an interesting story, that sadly came off as dull rather than how it should have. **
self indulgent boring third rate vanity project
posted on 03 Aug 2008Recently I couldn't get into any performance of The Dark Knight, so myself and my mate looked for an alternative. I should gone home and watched Eastenders this boring pretentious mockney nonsense, barely kept me awake . The main character (the first black hooligan) was about is menacing as the Hofmeister Bear. Unlike the cruely underrated Rise Of The Footsoldier which was slated to pieces. This film was a winded pretentious biopic of somebody nobody cares about. The acting was dreadful, especially the person who plays Cass's wife,hearing her winy nicotine voice was the equalvent of hearing a blackboard being scratched!! Why was this given a 18 certificate ?
Proves that you don't have to be white..to be 'British'..
posted on 01 Aug 2008An elderly white couple, adopt a child from Jamaica and raise him up during the 70's...I chronicles his life from being racially attacked... to actually attacking people for his beloved football team.The character of Cass is a man who blindingly loves his country and must face prosecution from others and constantly told he does not belong...I loved his rise, and the respect he accumulates from people.I found the prison part to be very fascinating as another Jamiacan British cell mate tells him about why he should care for his roots, and Cass's place in the world.The fight scenes were brilliantly shot and show Great Britain's hard men...We are not all like Hugh Grant..LOL..A good solid film with a great cast of actors..
spare a moment (or 2) to consider what this film's really about before forming a final opinion
posted on 04 Aug 2009judging by the comments left by men wanting to see an accurately depicted film on footie thuggery this is not a decent hooligan flick.I am not sure what the attraction is behind hooliganism, I mean don't get me wrong i profess to be no angel. I am a 34yr old working class south londoner who has had (in my day of course) many a stupidly drunken night and day which have occasionally led to tear ups resulting in victory and defeat, but packs of tooled up geezer's week after week year after year to then turn around and claim to be some national violence hierarchy! nah mate i ain't 'avin it. what was/is truly remarkable about this is 1 solitary black mans possibly god given path to stay and keep his head way above the water against any off the odds and become not only a player but ranked elitely among the top dogs if not the top. I for most of my childhood grew not too far from Cass's home town and were subject to similar experience's but had the sanctity of a home to which I culturally belonged. coincidentally I have also known Nonso in my past and I am truly proud at his portrayal of the man. as for Elaine (Cass's wife) not knowing a damned thing about the man's better half I felt that Natalie Press was not wooden or poor but actually quite sweet and find that viewers and critics alike expect Hollywood stellar performances far too often from actors portraying sweet n simple everyday fault filled folk. sadly (or maybe not so sadly) the budget was low so the film was kept gritty and simple as was working class Britain back then but the sentiment was high. a simple but great "1 man against the world and winning" story.