Eeeee by gum as they say in Yorkshire times are tough . On leaving school lads have a choice of either working down the pits or in factories while girls have a choice of marrying a lad who works either down the pit face or in a factory . Further education doesn`t seem to be an option in Yorkshire even though Sheffield does indeed have an university , I should know because I`ve been there . Oh didn`t all the coal mines close in Yorkshire sometime in the late 1980s ? In other words we`ve got a kitchen sink drama full of stereotypes and anachronisms

That said I did like WHEN SATURDAY COMES just because it`s a gritty drama well acted by its cast . Despite being too old for his role by about ten years Sean Bean plays his role very well especially if you only know him as a baddie from films like GOLDENEYE and PATRIOT GAMES . Emily Lloyd is also good and you really do feel for the characters in this film unlike the overrated comedy drama THE FULL MONTY which was also set in Sheffield

If you love football a must see. Sean Bean plays his role perfectly i loved this film from beginning to end. The story may be a little predictable however it captures the feel and grit of the City of Sheffield. The film follows "Jimmy" from being an arrogant hard drinking brewery worker through the trials that are set to shape his future one way or another. I think it is an honest portrayal of a working class "Hero".

I would recommend it to everyone you don't have to be a Sheffield United fan to love this film (it may help though). Emily Lloyd plays her character to perfection as well.Pete Postlethwaite brings his gravitas to the film. Also look out for the Sheffield United Legend Tony Currie who makes a cameo along with some other local footballing heroes most notably Mel Sterland ex- Sheffield Wednesday player.

It may be considered the beautiful game, but films about football have a nasty habit of ending up not-very-good. It just seems a fiendishly difficult sport to transfer to a cinematic canvas in a dramatic and involving way. When Saturday Comes is not the film to put right this strange, unwritten law of the cinema. It's not that it's a hopelessly terrible turd of a movie – far from it – but it's just a very average, pedestrian sports drama which doubles up as yet another social commentary on the grimness of northern life. Will there ever be a film about people who thrive, and enjoy life, north of the Watford Gap? Who knows?

Typical working-class, beer-swilling, woman-chasing factory worker Jimmy Muir (Sean Bean) has been stuck in dead end jobs since leaving school. The thing is, he could have had a much different life if his talents had been channelled correctly by the people around him as he was growing up. You see, Jimmy is a pretty damn fine footballer… but his archetypal lad's lifestyle, plus constant negativity from his abusive father Joe (John McEnery),mean that he never really pursued his talent with the required dedication. Jimmy's future begins to look a little brighter when he falls for feisty wages clerk Annie Doherty (Emily Lloyd),and is scouted by celebrated non-leaguers Hallam FC, coached by Ken Jackson (Pete Postlethwaite). Gradually, Jimmy works his way up to playing for professional side Sheffield United. Although that side's captain (played, curiously, by ex-Sheffield Wednesday star Mel Sterland) despises Jimmy, the hopeful newcomer gets his chance to enter Sheff Utd folklore when he comes on as a substitute in a cup semi final match against Manchester United. Will he seize his moment in the spotlight, or fold under the pressure when the stakes are highest?

When Saturday Comes is better in its dramatic scenes than its sporty ones. The football sequences capture neither the on-field drama nor off- field camaraderie one would hope for. The climax is especially disappointing – a strangely rushed and muddled sequence which trips over itself in its haste to get to Jimmy's all-too predictable 'punch-the- air-in-delight' moment after all those years of rejection and hardship. Erroneous little details don't help much either, such as the fact the FA Cup semi final depicted here is played at Brammall Lane, home of Sheffield United, when in actual fact FA Cup semis are always contested at a neutral venue. The performances are OK, though. 36 year old Bean is too old for his role but plays it enthusiastically enough. As a real- life Sheff Utd fan, this is something of a wish fulfilment film for him, or perhaps, some might say, a vanity project. He certainly seems more at home in this sort of kitchen sink stuff than playing Bond villains or traipsing across Middle Earth with a bunch of hobbits. Lloyd's spirited girlfriend character, and Postlethwaite as the supportive coach, are also strongly realised characters who contribute to the film's positives. As far as films set in Yorkshire go, When Saturday Comes is not really one of the best. It hardly taxes the patience, and is certainly not a complete disaster, but it never rises far above the level of a run-of-the-mill time filler.