I’m sure most of you have heard the name David Beckham, and know that he was a football aka soccer player in England for Manchester United in the 90s. You may not know the level of success he achieved or his challenging relationship with his famous girlfriend, Posh Spice, of the Spice Girls singing group. The 4 Episode Netflix series gives us an insightful look at bringing their winning moments to life as well as the tough times.
The director of Academy Award winner Fisher Stevens, “The Cove” 2009, captures their reactions individually as they are asked direct questions about the video clips. Stevens’s style is engaging, while at times, the couple have a completely different outlook than the other. He doesn’t ‘let it go’; he presses each to elaborate on the topic. Looking back at David’s childhood, his father encouraged him to be the best player, and their habitual practice sessions remind me of Tiger Woods’s upbringing with a determined father/mentor. David said he feared missing a shot as, in the end, he didn’t want to disappoint his father.
The couple’s romance in the early days is sweet; both have substantial time commitments. Victoria, as Posh Spice, was a global star, while David was a great player, he didn’t have the international fame she did. They wanted to see each other and spend as much time as possible. Friends and family describe the pair spending all night on the phone with each other or David driving four-hour round trips from London to Manchester to see Victoria for only 20 minutes. The touring and the training kept them apart, yet they found they were determined to find a way to see each other.
One would think they both lived a somewhat modern fairy tale. By all accounts that was true until the fateful day during an important playoff game when David received a ‘Red Card’ and was ejected from the game. The fans turned against him and sent him death threats. He was booed at games, harassed, spit on, maligned in the media, and ultimately had differences with his coaches. We view the families’ adjustments to moves to Spain and the United States and ultimately back to England. This is one of the best docu-series I’ve seen as the couple open up about the price of fame and what it does to a marriage.
Streaming on Netflix now.
Here’s a link to the Hollywood 360 Radio Network podcast airing October 28: https://www.hollywood360radio.com/beckham-netflix-series-/
Sarah Knight Adamson© October 25, 2023