In The Hands of The Gods - DVD Review

'you end up with is a whistle stop tour of the Americas in the company of five wazzocks none of whom you really want to succeed'

For those of you who aren’t based in the U.K it’s very possible you missed In The Hands of The Gods. For everyone over here it’s almost impossible you didn’t see it in some form or another plastered on adverts around the side of premier league and international football (soccer) matches.

The trail for it seems promising; 5 English likely lads from various backgrounds attempt to travel from New York to Argentina to meet their idol Diego Maradona. To do it they have to ‘busk’ their way through the Americas by performing their own blend of ‘freestyle’ football or to put it another way, showing off with a football while standing still.

While the premise is interesting the execution is nothing short of absolutely abysmal. None of the five are particularly likeable in any way shape or form. One suffers because he isn’t willing to speak up. One’s too arrogant for words. The others fall in to a variety of categories, none of which are overly positive.

The directing doesn’t help either. Ben and Gabe Turner skip important events and instead force their ‘stars’ to recount how it all unfolded. This isn’t all they skip either. One minute we’re in New York, the next in Texas. Then one enters South America which as far as the directors are concerned seems to be one big country as he moves through rather large areas of various countries seemingly at a jogging pace.

What you end up with is a whistle stop tour of the Americas in the company of five wazzocks none of whom you really want to succeed in their end goal. Instead of drama and interest you get nothing events and completely undeveloped, unshown, side areas of interest. It’s a complete mess and whilst some moments will raise a smile the completely unsatisfying ending will leave many, including some of the protagonist, with nothing but a sour taste in the mouth.

Uneducated, immature drivel which doesn’t deserve to pass under the moniker of ‘documentary’.