Review: THE KEEPER

Bert Trautmann is a German soldier captured at the end of WWII and imprisoned in a British camp. It's not quite a meet cute (it's not a rom com) but Margaret, the daughter of a local grocer supplying the camp, sees Bert showing expert skills as a goal keeper as the prisoners play soccer. He is considered trustworthy enough to work at the grocery while the grocer keeps an eye on his skills with a mind to enriching the local soccer team. After some stark resistance, Bert goes to the net and wins  the day and before we know it is playing for Man City to massive crowds. But not all is well.

After a tastefully handled romance between Bert and Margaret we see them married and we are aware that there is an event in Bert's military past that is beginning to fester in him as he struggles with the prejudice of football fans who see him as a scapegoat for Nazism. An initial division between Bert and Margaret ends with an intriguing question posed by his that we strongly suspect has the wartime incident at its centre.

There are the two themes of this film and their convergence into conflict drives a tale of reconciliation and its difficulties. So as Bert's career courses into triumph this grain of conscience grows until present day tragedy forces it into confession. The good thing about this film is that that moment does not end up with smiles or hugs and the thousand and one strings of the Lancashire Fiddlers. There is a heart rending emptiness that does far more to convey the gravity.

David Kross keeps Bert's cards close to his chest with a face like a Christmas elf, all baby blues, golden fringe and wide lipped smile. This is important because we are just as ready to reject him as the Brits. When it comes to the revelation of his wartime moment the elf is, like the reports of many soldiers faced with atrocity, screamingly out of his depth. It also gives him a passport to charm in the warmer moments. Freya Mavor finds her way to the moral centre, going from cheeky northern girl to barely restrained victim of grief, carrying time and deed on her shoulders. The cast at large will be recognisable to anyone who has been enjoying recent U.K. cinema of the last decade as it's quiet rise has taken place.

The sport scenes move with a solid muscularity but the action on the stadium lawn really lifts when the responses from fans and narrative players activate and take wing. The moment when Bert insists on closing the gap Margaret has challenged him with about the merits of sport vs dance. It is genuinely charming.

This film could have given in to the numerous opportunities for cuteness that peppered its early scenes (and there are a few) but kept to the seriousness of its later weightier moments so that they do not feel forced (calling Wes Anderson and his irritating  tacked-on 3rd act crises!) and instead give us much to ponder and a pallet both evocative of era and easy on the eye to help. There are a few what-happened-to titles but they are left as text over action and not allowed to descend into the photo gallery of the real life characters.