source: Cass

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... After a string of dismal football hooligan movies and dodgy sequels, and the majority of Nick Love films and the fact that Tamar Hassan is in it, you'd be forgiven for giving this a wide birth. but this isn't just another football film, this is about a man who wanted prejudice to be about who he supported, not the colour of his skin. It's a very gritty made film, with not a lot of violence, and it feels like it's the eighties, not looking like the eighties, if you know what i mean. All of the cast are very good (even Hassan), and although some of the settings are reminiscent of the original 'The Firm', this still stands head and shoulders above films like Green Street, Football Factory and ID. Not for everybody's taste, but a very heartfelt story, and proof that people could stand up in Maggies Millions

I've seen a few in the football violence type films, so gave this one a go. I was not dissapointed. Bottom line is, if you like the football violence etc, and with something of a true story, then you'll like this one. Also, this is another fantastic film about the ICF, the other being Rise of the Foot Soldier. Both Cass and Carlton Leach are well known in the ICF, so it was good to see his background in this film.

Way more than just a football thuggery story, as our protagonist has to weave his way from being an orphaned Black kid (Nonso Anozie) raised by White foster parents in a predominantly White London east end neighborhood to being a self-respected man with a job, family and peace of mind. Along this most circuitous route, he encounters racism by both Whites and Blacks: by Whites because of his color and by Blacks because of his cockneyed "White" sounding speech patterns and by his reluctance to "go Black" to his so-called African/Jamaican roots. He is quite content to merely be himself and is fully comfortable with his Caucasian foster parents who brought him up with love and attention. He cares far more about his family and his mates than for some artificial and ephemeral political/racial cause. The jail cell scene with the back and forth dialogue between Cass and his "Rasta-ish" cell-mate bears this point out. But his issues with the aforementioned football thuggery with its concomitant need for constant revenge through violence is keeping him from the realization of his true inner self, the real man he wants to be. The thrust of this film deals with how, over long periods of time, he must manage to extricate those inner demons in order to achieve any sort of lasting peace. And a superlative job indeed is done to portray this metamorphosis by Jon Baird & co., especially the lead role by Nonso. No fancy existential/psychological drama in this hard-hitting, straight-forward piece: just a man in search of himself with the hopes of finding some semblance of a peaceful, fulfilling existence.

There's many British gangster movies / football hooligan movies. Cass i certainly a candidate for being one of the better ones out there. I never go into story lines etc and try to keep my reviews brief and to the point here on IMDb. Basically if your a fan of the better UK movies like Football Factory, Green Street, Rise Of The FootSoldier, Clubbed etc then there's no way you will not enjoy this. Being based on a true story makes it even more engrossing for me and it's one i would recommend hence me giving it 8 stars. One downside is that it gives off a bit of a budget look... almost older then it is look with the visuals but its a solid British flick. Deffo check it out.

I 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.

An 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..

judging 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.

This 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

I enjoyed this film just enough to watch the whole 90 minutes, but it felt like i had already seen a dozen movies like this - football factory, green street, rise of the footsoldier, the firm (2009 version). it was a film that left me feeling unsatisfied for some reason, i cannot explain. The story is simple - A black baby raised by a white couple, who grows up in London. He grows up in very racist times and as he gets older he earns his respect by fighting rival fans at football games(he is a West Ham fan). This is the third football film in the last 3 years that revolves around West Ham united, (Green Street and Rise of the foot soldier) which is pretty tiring, as it makes you wish that the main character supported another dam team for once! Now one thing i will give this film credit for is the acting. you get a pretty good performance from Nonso Anozie and Leo Gregory, who you will notice from green street. Tamer Hassan also has a bit of screen time who you will recognise from the football factory and he does his tough man act pretty well. And thats basically it...... a football hooligan, no other story apart from the obvious confrontations that brings his way. He meets a women settles down and end of story. I'll admit that i felt cheated by this film, i thought there would be a better story....but never mind. If you are a huge fan of these hooligan films then by all means you will love it, but if like me, you are getting bored of these type of films then stay away By Scott Dewhurst