Mean Machine

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Barry Skolnick directs. Alex Barber behind the camera. John Murphy scores. Eddie Hamilton cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Profitable at the box office. Produced in United Kingdom. Dialogue in English, Italian.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 1Shot for just $2.8M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
• 225 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
• 3Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Italian.
• 4Directed by Barry Skolnick, shot by Alex Barber. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 5Original score by John Murphy. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
• 6Editor Eddie Hamilton shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 7Vinnie Jones and David Kelly and David Hemmings carry the top of the cast.
• 8Marketing tagline: "It's Not Just About Football, It's About Pride Inside!".
• 9IMDB entry: tt0291341 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

The technical file

Cinematography

Alex Barber

Original score

John Murphy

Editing

Eddie Hamilton

Production design

Russell De Rozario

Costume design

Stephanie Collie

Runtime

99 min · 1h 39m

Status

Released

Budget

$2,750,000

Box office

$7,310,206

Return

266% of budget

Original language

EN

Certification (US)

R

IMDB

Mean Machine (2001) ↗

Also by

Barry Skolnick

• 
  10 Minute Tales

  2009 · ★ 7.5

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  Mean Machine trailer

  Trailer

Community reviews

What people are saying

• John Chard2016-06-28
  ★ 7/10

  1-0 to the Mean Machine. Mean Machine is an English reworking of Robert Aldrich's 1974 beefcake Burt Reynolds starrer, The Longest Yard. Substituting Gridiron for Soccer, director Barry Skolnick, along with his roll call of British "faces", is only aiming for one market. That of the footie worshipping clan that primarily resides within the United Kingdom. Very much a long way from competing on the same playing field as Aldrich's superior movie, Mean Machine does have enough about it to make it an enjoyable viewing outside of the excellently constructed soccer match that fills out the last third of the piece. But with the film's reputation being far from good, the chance that many others feel the same as me are pretty remote. About as remote as Accrington Stanley winning the English Premiere League one feels. The problem would seem to lay with the first hour, violence and humour thrust together does not always yield great rewards, and so it be with the wet behind the ears direction from Skolnick. Caught between a tough portrayal of British prison life and outright slapstick, it's an odd bedfellow that Skolnick can't quite get right. And with Guy Ritchie on the sidelines donning the "supervising producer" shirt, one can't help thinking that Ritchie would have made substantially more with the material to hand. But as "I" say, there's enough there for the discerning fan of blood and banter. Led by the watchable Jones, the cast, outside of the miscast David Hemmings as the Governor, pull out the stops to entertain the terrace faithful. Danny Dyer haters will enjoy him getting knocked about as he plays simpleton Billy Limpet, while Jason Statham is a joy as Monk, a Jock that even the Jocks are afraid of. While also putting in scene stealing shifts of note are Jamie Sives, Vas Blackwood and Omid Djalili. It's no piece of work to rank in the higher echelons of British movies - or sports movies in general for that matter. But in spite of its soggy formula and over reliance on the template film it's working from, it's very funny at times, and if you like soccer? Well the actual match is well worth the wait. 7/10 Footnote: The Longest Yard/Mean Machine was met with another re- imaging in 2005 with Adam Sandler as the disgraced lead protagonist. Proof positive that it's either a formula that many can't resist? Or that it's one that some feel still hasn't yet met its potential?

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• 

  Marv

  GB

Key crew

• ProducerMatthew Vaughn
• Executive ProducerGuy Ritchie
• Executive ProducerCynthia Pett-Dante
• EditorEddie Hamilton
• ProducerGeorgia Masters
• Line ProducerAdam Bohling
• Production DesignRussell De Rozario
• Executive ProducerAlbert S. Ruddy
• Costume DesignStephanie Collie
• Art DirectionTom Wales
• Set DecorationJenny Lawrence-Smith
• EditorDayn Williams
• Sound MixerSimon Hayes
• Original Film WriterAlbert S. Ruddy

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• prison
• sports
• prison warden
• amateur football (soccer)
• remake
• football (soccer)
• football (soccer) coach

Release history · US

When it landed

• Theatrical2001-12-26R

Also known as

International titles

• Mean Machine: Jugar duroES