Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Great Film overall

an ambitious but ultimately ineffective debut endeavor.

It is both painfully honest and laugh-out-loud funny at the same time.

There's Only One Jimmy Grimble is a very simple film of whimsy and football, a tale of a young 15 year old Manchester misfit who learns some life lessons when he encounters a strange old homeless dear who gives him a pair of magical old boots. So yes, boys own fanciful stuff for sure, but it has such a warm heart, is loaded with dry Lancastrian wit, and threaded together with such an affection for the sport and teenage growing pains, that's it's impossible to dislike. The cast list is impressive, with Ray Winstone, Robert Carlyle, Gina McKee, Ben Miller and Jane Lapotaire keeping the ball up for the adults, while in the youngsters half we have Lewis McKenzie as Jimmy scoring well by being naturally uneasy in front of the camera, and Samia Smith has the required charm and feistiness to make the tricky "girlfriend" role work very well.There's good football action for the footie loving fan, with serious tension filled sequences sitting next to some truly funny ones; anyone who played for their school football team will identify with the "different" sort of teams Jimmy and co have to play against, and some of the young characterisations will definitely strike a chord with most British folk who played sport at school. The drama is well played, with director John Hay letting his actors imbue the narrative with the right amount of emotional weight, the soundtrack is contains ideal poundings from bands up North and John De Boorman's cinematography is suitably bleak and beautiful at the requisite junctures.It has flaws for sure, any film fan could pick holes in this without really trying, and familiarity of the sub-genre undoubtedly stops it blooming with freshness. But why gripe? Film achieves its aims, it wants to leave you with a feel good glow and delivers on that promise. High art it's not, perfect British footie pick me up? Indeed. All together now, "there's only one Jimmy Grimble, one Jimmy Grimble". 7/10

I discovered this film tucked away in the DVD rental shop. I cannot say why I bothered to rent it - I am not a sports fan, and have no knowledge of soccer. I suppose I thought, hey, it is British, and Carlyle is in it, so it cannot be all bad. Once I sat down and watched it, I was blown away.This film is one of those hidden gems, a movie with a great script, a talented cast, a wonderfully unique setting, but no buzz. My feelings about such films are mixed. On the one hand I am elated to have stumbled upon such a treat. On the other, I am deeply saddened to think of all the people out there who may have loved such a movie, but will never see it. And it depresses me to think that there are many more films out there that I will miss.I would urge anyone reading these reviews, who has not seen Jimmy Grimble, to rent or buy it ASAP, and anyone who has only seen it once to see it at least one more time. And spread the word about this, and other great, but largely-ignored, movies. Haven't we had enough of movie adaptations of bad sitcoms and comic books, films inspired by "lifestyle", and terrible movie franchises? Aren't we tired of clichés and feature-length commercials. Fight for quality with your viewing habits, and word of mouth.

Young, bullied, unconfident, Manchester teenager Jimmy Grimble (Lewis Mckenzie)is all of these. However, when he is given a pair of old football boots his luck changes and he is transformed into a football boy wonder. This is worth a watch, it has many of the familiar sports film clichés but is still a somewhat touching tale with a fine cast and fairly good cinematography. Typical sports films usually follow the same type of formula as far as I can see: 1.A team or person are lousy at the sport they play. 2.Along comes a factor in the equation to start to change this. For example an excellent or determined coach to change their fortunes. 3.The team still are'nt winning at first but they have more spirit and are improving. Eventually they win their first game or achieve something in the sport they have'nt before. 4. The coach has a love interest with a players Mum or teacher in Disney sports films. Or a player finds a love interest or struggles in his or her love life. 5. The team enter a competition and win their first game. 6.There are personal problems along the way with players, the coach etc.7. Eventually the team gets to the final stage of the competition and after a terrible start to the game they look like losing. However, there is a determined fight back and they end up winning, shock horror, who could have predicted that!! OK, so perhaps this is not the formula for all sports films but some or all of the factors are involved in most. Jimmy Grimble is no exception but I still enjoyed it more than others. The lead performs his part well and the coach is played well by Robert Carlyle who is in a rather subdued role for a change. Overall, this is watchable, even if you don't like football you should get some enjoyment out of it. Average effort but entertaining enough

This was 10 times the film Billy Elliott was, but not being about something controversial, PC or arty it was never going to get the acclaim. Occasionally it threatened to get a little unrealistic but never did & was clear people who actually understood football had a hand in writing it. (Barring one or two scenes where Jimmy seemed to have the pitch to himself).Brilliant acting from all major parties, a great modern film but one for all ages, which is quite rare these days, and will evoke most emotions in the viewer.A high 8/10.