George Best: All by Himself

Don't expect many revelatory details from this fond, fair film.

There are several truly splendid moments to savour and candid interviews with some of the main players in George Best's life, especially his first wife Angie and old pals such as Pat Crerand and Mike Summerbee.

The sum total is effective and certainly no hagiography, it paints a rather complete and sad story.

The film is well put together and Best's talent shines in the archive footage, although you do wonder if he achieved quite as much to deserve all the adulation ...

Most of the talking-head interviews here are second tier and their insights little more than pub anecdotes.

Gordon does the double European footballer of the year more than justice, and the film should serve as a pedagogic tool for generations of gifted athletes from heretofore.

Best's fame had percolated to the farthest corners of consciousness, beyond soccer to stardom. And that was his curse, and his blessing.

A beautifully balanced perspective that extols Best's sublime skills while offering sobering analysis of how unprecedented fame (for a footballer), alcohol and his inner demons halted his progress.

If Best's story is a cautionary tale that's become a cliché across all walks of life, Gordon's film functions as a useful reminder that there's always a human being behind such tales.

Trundles out the same old ideas, without anything fresh in the way of context or perspective.

Gordon's documentary is punctuated with redtop headlines, as if the Daily Bilge and Sunday Schmooze were the authorities to trust on matters of fallen soccer princes.