Funny, buoyant, and exhilarating: a culturally cross-wired sports comedy infused with the greater global vibe of Title IX. Jess (Parminder Nagra), the Anglo-Indian teenage heroine, has grown up in London, where she's obsessed with soccer. Yet her parents, who are doing all they can to hold on to their traditional Sikh ways, won't allow her to play. The movie offers the delicious 21st-century paradox of a wallflower who is fully in touch with her inner soccer bruiser yet still in search of her inner woman. ''Bend It Like Beckham'' has many familiar elements, yet it has been directed by Gurinder Chadha with a facility and pizzazz that restores your appreciation for honest commercial movie-making.
EW's GRADE
ADetails Limited Release: Mar 12, 2003; Rated: PG-13; Length: 112 Minutes; Genres: Comedy, Sports; With: Keira Knightley and Parminder Nagra; Distributor: Fox Searchlight Pictures
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