Limited series on football star reveals much, skips a bit

In August 1996, when Manchester United played Wimbledon in an English Premier League (PL) football game, with United leading 2-0, 21-year-old David Beckham floated a ball from the half-way line that went over the goalkeeper and into the goal. The footballing world took note and as his father, David ‘Ted’ Beckham says, “They never left him alone after that.”

Beckham’s journey as a footballer — arguably the world’s most famous at his time, it’s biggest brand for a while and someone who made United a household name — comes together in a Netflix limited series, Beckham. Directed by Fisher Stevens, better known for his role as the slimy comms guy Hugo Baker in Succession and for producing the 2009 Oscar-winning documentary The Cove, the limited series digs into Beckham’s tumultuous journey as a footballer as told by him, friends and family.

Stevens gets access to loads of Beckham’s former teammates and rivals, which is not surprising considering the footballer is an executive producer on the series along with former United mate Gary Neville. There are behind the scenes footages from the early years when Beckham, as an upcoming star, and Victoria Adams, a former Spice Girl and later wife, made for a glamorous couple that had the British — and other — tabloids scrambling over one another to get a peek into their lives. Major former footballers like Ronaldo, Roberto Carlos, Figo, Diego Simeone and United regulars like Neville, Paul Scholes, Eric Cantona, Alex Ferguson besides several others make an appearance in explaining what the life of one of the world’s biggest sporting stars used to be.

Beckham, with his acclaimed free-kicks and crosses, led the England national team too but it was his success at United — with whom he won six PL titles, two FA Cups and a Champions League crown — and Real Madrid — one La Liga crown — that made him a superstar. His good looks, ever changing hairstyles and marketability — not the least being married to a pop star — took his earnings from outside of football to among the highest in the world of sport. When he joined the Major League Soccer (MLS) in the USA in 2007, Beckham became the first major European player to ply his trade there, making him a bit of a pioneer that paved the way for current stars like Lionel Messi to play in America.

One of his major contributions to the sport was to make it more popular globally. As one of the talking heads in Beckham says about his move to Spain, in 2003, Real Madrid and Beckham were the biggest brands in the world. Former Real Madrid president Florentino Perez, who brought Beckham to Madrid, says the club was able to triple its revenues after the England player’s arrival.

Shot mostly in the Beckhams’ homes, with him sometimes putzing around picking honey, the film gets the couple at their most candid. Indeed, Victoria — or Posh Spice as she was known in her music days — brings in a straight-faced humour that’s also triggered by their chemistry together.

When she starts talking about her humble beginnings, Beckham heckles her repeatedly from behind the door, “what car did your dad drive”. “He had a Rolls Royce in the 1980s,” she admits, reluctantly. In another sequence, as she prepares to step out for “work”, he probes with a grin, “where are you going?”. “For a facial,” she mutters while exiting.

“I don’t give up easily. I don’t give up,” he says, in reference to his football, which seems easily applicable to life outside of sport.

Always well-groomed and dressed, the couple present a cosy picture, with Victoria completely aware of the camera, playing to it but not averse to contradicting her husband. Beckham’s OCD-bordering behaviour come through in his adjusting a chair and in how he organises his clothes by colour.

Uncomfortable episodes of his life, like the affair that rocked their marriage during the Spain sojourn, are brushed over. It’s not clear if he and Ferguson ever made up, after the manager’s displeasure with his star player ended Beckham’s career at United.

But the couple does address the trauma of being booed and vilified after Beckham got a red card in the 1998 World Cup against Argentina, which eventually led to a loss and England’s exit from the tournament. That “serious mistake” changed his life, Beckham admits. One of the headlines at the time read, “10 heroic lions one stupid boy”. This forms a significant portion of the series, a period that turned England’s favourite into its most hated.

Stevens replays old matches to refresh memories, often focussing on the faces of his interviewees as they react to what they see. He even speaks to some Manchester photographers, for the paparazzi and tabloids are so integral to the Beckham story. At the height of Beckham’s popularity, he was mobbed to the point of being fearful and received kidnapping threats for his first baby. Another cruel article, that symbolises the tabloids’ obsession with the Beckhams, comes from the time Victoria’s delivery got delayed by a couple of weeks. “Too Posh to push,” screamed a headline.

For football fans, there is plenty of action footage, those looping Beckham passes and free-kicks that seem to, at times, hang in the air, and at other times, swing as if with a mind of their own. The four-episode series, each an hour long, moves quickly though, with pulsating music and, of course, photogenic protagonists.

American filmmaker Stevens moves chronologically, which helps the narrative, especially for those who are not aware of Beckham’s career or have forgotten aspects of it.

At the end, it becomes clear that Beckham will remain a Manchester loyalist, a team that stood by him through tough times and whose manager, Ferguson, was a father figure. When Beckham’s son comes out to kick ball with his father, wearing a Gunners’ (Arsenal) sweatshirt, the 47-year-old Beckham goes, “You will never score wearing that. Try without it.”