United Passions/YMMV

These things about United Passions are subjective - not everyone will agree with all of them.

Audience-Alienating Premise: Many critics including John Oliver were bemused about the idea of making a sports movie where the heroes were the executives instead of the football players themselves. The fact that it was bankrolled by FIFA didn't help matters as it further cemented its status as a propaganda film for a woefully corrupt sporting body. It failed to make back even 10% of its budget, earning just $918 at the US box office in its first week, and less than $170,000 in its entire run.
Bile Fascination: Many of those who watched the film were more after the overwhelmingly negative reception it got than any of its merits (if there's anything at all).
Hilarious in Hindsight: Particularly that of Thomas Kretschmann who previously gained notoriety amongst internet circles for his character's memetic portrayal in the Hitler Rants parodies. Some have opined that Kretschmann (as Fegelein) produced the film as an elaborate antic at FIFA's expense.
Overshadowed by Controversy: The film had the misfortune of being released just as when the 2015 FIFA corruption scandal was taking place. Director Frédéric Auburtin lamented about how he was commissioned to direct a propaganda piece on behalf of a corrupt organisation, adding that he tried to strike a balance between "a Disney propaganda film [and] a Costa-Gavras/Michael Moore movie" only for Executive Meddling from FIFA to prevail which further skewed the film's tone in their favour, and both Auburtin and the cast described it as a disaster, especially as Sepp Blatter was sugar-coated as a heroic figure vowing to stamp out corruption in the association (Spoiler alert: he isn't). A bemused John Oliver lampooned the film in a segment on his show Last Week Tonight, wondering "Who makes a sports film where the heroes are the executives?"

Back to United Passions