Playing Away (1987)

Playing Away: Directed by Horace Ové. With Norman Beaton, Robert Urquhart, Helen Lindsay, Nicholas Farrell. To mark the conclusion of their “Third World Week” celebration, a cricket team in a small English village invites a black cricket team from South London to a charity game with comical results.

“As an avid cricket fan, I am constantly puzzled and dismayed by the negative depiction of the sport on the big screen. Sadly, u0026quot;Playing Awayu0026quot; is no exception.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eA group of West Indian cricketers from inner city London are invited to participate in a charity match against a village team from rural Suffolk.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eSo far so good. But rather than portraying cricket as a potent social glue, the director instead chooses to use the game as a source of anger and bigotry. Throwing in some predictable racial stereotypes for good measure.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIndeed, the only time that black and white appear to reach an u0026quot;understandingu0026quot; is illustrated in a particularly tacky scene when one of the visiting players has sex with a local girl in the village churchyard.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eu0026quot;Playing Awayu0026quot; was released at a time in the eighties, when British movie makers felt compelled to u0026quot;educateu0026quot; their audiences about perceived social injustices rather than just try and actually entertain them.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eLittle wonder then, that UK cinema goers preferred watching Bruce Willis blowing up a fleet of jumbo jets in a vest as opposed to this moralistic claptrap.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI for one cannot blame them.”