The comedy drama may be about a postman who has a breakdown and imagines he can see Cantona.
But this illusion only strengthens the gritty reality elsewhere in the film.
It is the story of Eric Bishop, a troubled man whose failed marriage is still hitting him hard decades on and whose stepkids don’t respect him.
Things come to a head when he is in a car crash after deliberately driving the wrong way on a roundabout.
And when an intervention by his friends fails to hit the mark, the football fanatic’s icon comes to life to offer life coaching.
It’s a thoroughly charming story for film fanatics and football fans alike with Cantona playing himself.
What works so well about this film is how director British Ken Loach manages to effortlessly weave together the deeply tragic with the humourous.
It flicks between Eric’s conversations with famously philosophical former player and events in his life which are always out of his control – from making polite conversation with his ex-wife to finding a gun in his stepson’s room.
From football to relationships, many of the film’s scenarios are things that everyone can relate to.
It is a rollercoaster of the highs and lows of life stamped with charming British style and culminates in a fantastic final scene beaming with comradeship and redemption.
