There must have been dozens of movies and plays written about England's only World Cup win, in England, in 1966.
This one is told from the perspective of a 12-year old Jewish boy immersing himself in planning his bar mitzvah, or more specifically the reception and festivities after it. He has his menus, seating plan, musical entertainment all planned out, but then learns that the date clashes with the World Cup final.
If the England team makes it through to the final, there's a danger no-one will come to his bar mitzvah celebration, so he prays for England losses during the qualifying stages, sticks pins in dolls dressed in England football uniforms, and writes letters to England manager Alf Ramsey imploring him to keep his star players on the bench.
Every football fan knows his efforts were wasted, but nevertheless the film is cute and entertaining, if not laugh out loud funny from start to finish.
It's perhaps not a coincidence that many of my recent favorite films have been English (The King's Speech, Four Lions, Infidel, Made in Dagenham, Disappearance of Alice Creed), and that a couple of them have featured the delectable Helena Bonham Carter (The Kings Speech, Sixty Six). More surprising is how many have had a religious theme (Four Lions, Infidel, The Book of Eli) and Jewish stories (Holy Rollers, A Serious Man, Infidel, Sixty Six).
What these facts prove is nothing other than you can make lists about anything, and most of them mean nothing to anyone else.
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