Gascoigne (2015) User Reviews

FANTASTIC insight into one of England's greatest ever footballers.

[davidobrien1995 · 8/10 · 14 June 2015]

Now a days when we hear the name 'Paul Gascoigne' buzz words enter our head to fit the meaning of that name. Words such as "druggie, alcoholic, mad, crazy, and legend". Although he made his mistakes in the past, like anybody else, we should all never forget the amazing footballer he once was.

I personally think director Jane Preston has done a wonderful job in this documentary by making us all remember the heroics on and off the pitch of the legend that is, Paul Gascoigne. With fitting tributes in this feature by the likes Gary Lineker, José Mourinho and Wayne Rooney all sharing their admiration of the talent Gazza is.

Gascoigne talks to the camera for the majority of this documentary as he speaks joyfully, fondly, happily and at times emotionally about his career. If you are a fan of football, a fan of Paul Gascoigne, a fan of sporting heroes, then I ensure you, this is a must-watch for you.

Not bad at all

[valleyjohn · 6/10 · 21 June 2015]

This is an enjoyable documentary about the genius footballer that is Paul Gascoigne. It's great to see him in a good place at the moment and he looks happy in the film. It's not groundbreaking. You are not going hear or see anything you haven't before and he doesn't get into the personal side of his life too much but if you wan't a historical account of his life , with some great footage , from the man who knows best - this is it. There are vox pops with José Mourinho ( not sure why ) , Gary Lineker and Wayne Rooney and the close up shots of them are slightly distracting but it's Paul you really wan't to hear from . 6 out of 10

Paul talks us through his football life, focusing mainly on his England days and doesn't delve into his personal life in too much detail.

[MUFCOK · 8/10 · 14 October 2015]

Having been born in 1990, I have very little, if any, solid memories of Paul Gascoigne on a football field. Sadly for me I seem to know more about his off the field problems that I did of his actual football career.

This documentary is narrated by Paul Gascoigne himself, he talks us through his club career, England career and some of his personal off the field moments. I would have liked to have heard more about his personal life but sadly he didn't really delve into that in much depth, however when he did he seemed to get very upset – making it quite uncomfortable and upsetting to view. I wouldn't give it a lesser rating based on the fact that he didn't talk about his private life as it quite clear he wanted to focus on his football career (England in particular). Seeing Paul talk about England with such fondness and joy was refreshing to see, he saw it as the greatest honour to represent his country and you get the impression that those memories mean more to him than anything else.

The documentary has appearances from a few other faces in football, Gary Lineker offering the majority of the support with Wayne Rooney and even Jose Mourinho (for some unknown reason?) giving their input on Pauls story. The editing starts to get quite irritating the more the film goes on, the use of slow motion shots are a little BT Sport esc and are cringey to see the least. Slow motion scenes of Gary Lineker laughing hysterically, while staring past the camera into the distance and then running his hands through his quiff start to get tiresome when they use it for the 10th time in less than an hour.

Overall this documentary isn't without its negatives but I did find it to be very entertaining, I hadn't really seen an recap of Paul Gascoignes football career and with me having very few memories of his playing days, I found myself quite hooked while watching this. He is clearly a very troubled man and the joy you could see he got from reliving this football days were quite special to see. He came across quite a humble man who seems to have been battling his demons since he was a very young boy, it is such a shame.

8/10

When does Gazza end and Gascogne begins?

[fostrhod · 6/10 · 1 June 2020]

If your a football fan this documentary is a great watch. Focusing on his rise and subsequent fall, featuring great clips of his England years.

It does leave you wanting more , what happened at Everton, Middlesbrough, his management career etc. Due to his talent he was always destined to be one of the greats. The film itself doesn't focus on his so called friends and how he was exploited by these friends. Even the film does have an element of exploitation, he is betrayed gurning at the camera in slow motion at every opportunity

As a study of a footballer this could have been better, as a study of a man with very obvious mental health problems it is another example of how people are still making money of the man.

Great moments, tepid general outcome

[guisreis · 7/10 · 20 February 2021]

As one begins watching, this is a very promising football documentary. Gascoigne was an amazing player and unique character. Indeed, there are many nice stories told along the good interviews, either hilarious or terribly sad. Unfortunately, irregular pace and cheesy generic soundtrack worsened what could have been great.

"Gascoigne" is a great football story

[bloommediaart88 · 7/10 · 28 June 2015]

I personally love football documentaries especially those that profile players such as gifted as 'Gazza'. This movie would hold sentimental value to Newcastle, Tottenham and England fans alike. it is a precise, emotional and exciting portrayal of an English footballer who was able to ply his trade in 3 European Leagues. For more than fifteen years playing professional football, Gazza came under a lot of pressure from friends, enemies and himself to become the best that he could be.

The documentary is a nostalgic, well done, description of Paul Gascoigne's experiences. The film brings us close to The player as a person and shows us what football really meant to England's best striker to date..with Sir Bobby Charlton being an exception of course.

Gazza made history by joining Tottenham in June 1988 after snubbing an offer from Sir Alex Ferguson himself. This fact alone makes this movie special to me because it was the year and month when i was born (June 88). The inclusion of Gascoigne's modern day equal, Wayne 'Wazza' Rooney, Chelsea Manager, Jose Mourinho and another England Hall of famer, Gary Lineker as commentators to Paul's career, should indicate to any '90s kid who (shockingly) has not heard of GAZZA that ignorance IS NOT bliss.

Briliant!.....only

[simontol22 · 9/10 · 14 July 2019]

This was one of the most best football documentary i've had seen so far. I think in my opinion was the documentairy to short, because he had a lot to been experienced. Only I was missing story's from another teammates what have played with him. Only Lineker was one of them. Rooney and José no.

Watch this

[Steiner72 · 8/10 · 24 December 2019]

A trip down memory lane well worth the watch, especially when you remember the events described in this documentary. Gaza was a briliant player in a time when football wasn't all about money as it is today. Football the way it should be in my opinion.

Gazza the Legend

[garycook03 · 8/10 · 8 December 2017]

@ATEreviews from United Kingdom ....and even Jose Mourinho (for some unknown reason?)

Seriously?? Mourinho is famous for shouting to Gazza after an Everton game and shouting out loudly in the tunnel "Special One" to which Gazza argued, in Gazza's special way that he wasn't and Mourinho was. Anyway, banter followed and its quite a famous story so your review is uneducated and lame. ATEreviews needs new reviewers.

I was 19 in 1990 and enjoyed the 82 and 86 World Cups in equal heartbreak but 1990 saw English football put back on the map after Heysel and Hillsborough etc. Gazza changed the face of English football and he alone, in my opinion should take credit for changing the way we see the game for the last 2y years since Italia 90. A quarter of a million people lined the streets of Luton upon there return in 1990. Imagine if we had won!

Shame we have no one with the skill, charisma or just plain fun factor to make sure our boys away for 5 weeks every 4 years can make sure we have the team we had in 1990.

Edit...Just wanna add 1996 also. The year football came home

Emotional and enjoyable! 5/10

[leonblackwood · 5/10 · 10 October 2015]

Review: I quite enjoyed this documentary because it showed a true side of Paul Gascoigne, away from all the glitz, glamour and a awful lot of drinking. The director didn't rely on cheap gimmicks and clever graphics and he chose to just have Gascoigne speaking about his life, which was quite emotional in parts. I was expecting more information about his filthy habits and his troubled marriage but those subjects weren't mentioned because it's mostly about his football career. His brief but highly successful career was put on hold, after a bad injury during the 1991 FA Cup Final, before he moved to Lazio in 1992 for a record signing fee. He played a few matches for the team but he wasn't able to shine like he did in the UK. After being kept out of the Lazio team for some time, he moved to Rangers in 1995 for a record transfer fee of £4.3m and he regained his reputation as a skilled football player. He made a hand gesture whilst celebrating a goal and he received a death fret from the IRA which bothered him for some time and he was worried about his families safety but he soon received another letter from IRA, saying that he would be murdered if he made the hand gesture again, which put his mind at rest. He then played for England in Euro 96 with Terry Venables as the manager and after a magnificent goal against Scotland, he had earned the love of the English crowd again. He then had a strong battle with alcohol and drugs, which isn't shown in the documentary, and he went on to play for Middlesbrough and Everton but he was dropped from the England squad in 1998. Now heavily addicted to drink and drugs, his face was plastered in all of the newspapers as the man who had it all and wasted it. On top of that, he started to become paranoid because personal information were leaking in the newspapers, which made him dive into the bottle even more. He then found out that his phone was being tapped by the News of the World and he finally got his day in court in 2015. He continues to be an icon to a lot of people around the world, mainly for his no fear attitude on the pitch but his addiction has troubled him, in the latter part of his life and he has been close to death a couple of times. Everyone wishes the best for him but it's only him that can help himself. This emotional documentary, really does show how having everything really isn't for everybody. He will never return to the form that he was in during the 90's but he still was one hell of a football player. Watchable!

Round-Up: Its sad to see how Gazza has become, after such a successful career! I found him to be very honest in this documentary, especially about the deaths within his family and friends and how they troubled him. He finally got divorced in 1998 after a turbulent marriage which involved Gazza beating his wife for nearly 2 years and they later tried to reconcile there relationship after he faced his demons but it still didn't work out. With that aside, he still is loved by the nation and that famous crying photograph from the 1990 World Cup will definitely be a moment to remember in English history.

Budget: $1million Worldwide Gross: N/A

I recommend this movie to people who are into their documentary/biopic/sport about Paul Gascoigne and his rise and fall in the world of football. 5/10