We Are the Champions-Af Jobs (2005)

Directed by: Martin Hagbjer | 79 minutes | comedy, sports | Actors: Lars Bom, Camilla Bendix, Bjarne Henriksen, Claus Bue, Kristian Halken, Niklas Ingemann, Nicolas Bro, Anthony Timur Catallar, Micky Skeel Hansen, Saban Özdogan, Nicklas Svale Andersen, Svend Laurits Læssø Larsen, Jonas S. Nielsen, Emilie Fensen Louise Bangslund, Eva Reinhold, Nathalie Maria Wendt Olsson, Stephanie Gøtze Gringer, Margrethe Koytu, Susanne Storm, Thomas W. Gabrielsson

‘We Are the Champions’ is a fun Danish family film about a couple of young people playing football, around thirteen, who need a new coach. The father of one of the boys, David, used to be a professional football player, but has stopped playing for unknown reasons. Torben is recruited to train the team. David’s parents are divorced and the father-son relationship is quite disturbed. David thinks the divorce is his fault, but he also can’t stand his father fleeing into alcohol. The fact that Torben is going to train his team is therefore unacceptable to him and after a collision he announces that he will only start playing football again if there is another trainer.

The characters, as is often the case in Danish films, are portrayed in a very recognizable and human way. No character is without mistakes and that makes them all sympathetic. The viewer can always identify with one of the main characters, so that a bond is established fairly quickly. The humor in the film is subtle but very effective, such as the scene where Torben tries to get a washing machine to work, which turns out to be another running gag in the film. Of course the romance is not lacking either, when Torben falls for the charms of one of the mothers. Movies with a sports theme often have the same structure. It is often an ‘underdog’ team, which is on the verge of relegation. Just like in a classic Bouquet series story the two lovers can’t air or see each other at all in the beginning, in such a sports film there is usually a coach who only manages to arouse antipathy in the players (except in the viewer). He has all appearances against him, but still manages to slowly win over the team. And he appears to apply a questionable but also correct strategy, so that after some obstacles the team often wins the important game at the end of the film or even becomes champion. ‘We Are the Champions’, the title says it all, offers nothing new under the sun, but the film was made with such enthusiasm that it has an effect on the audience. The actors, all with a few exceptions known only from Danish productions, deliver a fine performance by acting completely natural. Emotions such as sadness and joy come across well and the film is therefore a real feel-good movie, for young and old.