Review: Kenny – “A film that invokes spirit”

Overlooking the Ibrox in Edinburgh, Kenny Dalglish honed his craft in football from an early age. The bitter Scottish cold giving Kenny the harsh redness in appearance is only one of the steely attributes his homeland gave him, along with wizardry, boldness and leadership. Little would anyone – or he himself – know that he would become one of the most important figures in European football and the figurehead responsible for galvanising communities after some of the greatest tragedies in sports.

Kenny, is the intimate biopic which documents the key moments in Dalglish’s life off the pitch more than on it. With the help of former teammates and peers – Alan Hansen, John Barnes, Bruce Grobbelaar, Ian Rush, Sir Alex Ferguson – and his family, we go back and forth on the journey of the man and player/coach responsible for one of the most memorable sporting teams, Liverpool FC, in world football in regards to attacking flair and silverware.

A combination of archive footage and interview montages, the nostalgia of the 70s and 80s footballing climate is brought to life, alongside this, we see intimate footage from Kenny’s family who speak of his temperament and formative years at Liverpool. The films finest moment is the retelling of the Ibrox, Heysel and Hillsborough tragedies and how Kenny, and the city of Liverpool, coped in the aftermath; a moment when football and sport transcended itself to act as a binding force in light of atrocity. Leveraging this plot makes Kenny relevant to a wider audience outside of sport and is key to what otherwise would only be watchable to those with a pre-existing knowledge of football history or purists.

Kenny will be released at a time when Kenny Dalglish has recently had a stand at Anfield – Liverpool FC’s home ground – named after him, and the Hillsborough disaster is still very much in the news agenda after influencing policy changes.

Kenny is a film that invokes spirit and offers an insight into the weight a single man carried on his shoulders through testing times. The cultural identity of Liverpool and legacy left by Kenny Dalglish are factors that make this film relevant to a younger audience that may not be aware of the gargantuan presence and history of Liverpool FC.

Kenny opens in the UK on 20th November 2017.