United (2011)

From Dr Who being gay in Nazi Germany to Dr Who being Welsh at Manchester United... I have to say that David Tennant's presence in the TV movie United is one of the things that drew me to it, as the subject matter, football, doesn't interest me in the slightest. However, there's barely any football to be seen as the drama concentrates on telling the true story of the people involved in and who survived the Munich air disaster in 1958 that killed 23 people, including 8 members of Manchester United's famous team. 

The opening half hour introduces many of the big names, particularly young Bobby Charlton (Jack O'Connell) who gets his first chance to play for the club, and sets up the emotional impact following the crash as you learn how close the players were. Not being a football fan I only recognised Charlton's name, plus Matt Busby, the club's owner, played with gruff likability by Dougray Scott, so I watched with no prior knowledge of who lived or died. The air disaster itself came as a surprise to me, I didn't realise that the plane crashed/exploded after a 3rd failed take off on the Munich runway, and not as a 'traditional' plane crash might occur dropping out of the sky. Thinking about it, that would make for fewer survivors (there were 21). 

Tennant played coach Jimmy Murphy, who wasn't on the plane and who had to deal with the ourpourings of grief from the survivors, family members and the whole country afterwards. Tennant and O'Connell stand out in a cast of faultless performances as the emotional heart of the drama, really converying the utter loss, incomprehension and finally the team spirit that inspired Murphy to pull another team of players together to play remaining cup matches in honour of their fallen team mates. It's an emotionally draining watch, but with flashes of hope and rememberance, which reflects well on the British team spirit of pulling together in a crisis.