Mike McCahill 

Believe review – Brian Cox stars as Man United’s Matt Busby

This cringeworthy 'inspired by true events' supposition sees a retired Busby coaching a pickpocket to under-12s glory, writes Mike McCahill
  
  

Trifling hooey … Brian Cox as Matt Busby in Believe.
Trifling hooey … Brian Cox as Matt Busby in Believe. Photo: Allstar Picture Library Photograph: Allstar Picture Library

Just when we thought Man United's stock couldn't fall any lower, here's an often cringeworthy "inspired by true events" supposition that sees the retired Matt Busby (Brian Cox) coaching the blond moppet who stole his wallet to under-12s glory. Early 80s pointers (Musical Youth, the miners' strike) are trowelled on to a formulaic plot: the school's cup final coincides with not just a major exam but Busby's birthday to boot. Cox's guardedly avuncular turn might have sustained a more rigorous endeavour, but the attempt to evoke the trauma of the Munich air disaster is rendered wholly insupportable by the trifling hooey around it.

 

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