The Firm 1989

Clive Bissell, nicknamed “Bex” or “Bexy”, Gary Oldman is a married estate agent and father to a baby son who leads the ICC, a rough hooligan firm. His wife, Sue Bissell Lesley Manville, disapproves of his violent lifestyle, even though the thrill of violence gives him a buzz. His father accepts the lifestyle too, proudly posing in a photo with the tooled up gang and boasting of similar exploits from his own era, yet he suspects Bex and his crew have grown soft, preferring strategy to raw aggression.

The film opens with a clash of rivals: The Buccaneers vandalize Bexy’s Ford Sierra XR4x4 and spray graffiti in a football dressing room, while Bexy’s nemesis, Yeti Phil Davis, speeds across the pitch in a white Volkswagen Golf GTi cabriolet.

With the European Championship in West Germany looming, Bexy dreams of forming a National Firm—a coalition of rival gangs large enough to challenge the organized international hooligan groups. He arranges a meeting at the Tower Hotel in London, bringing together leaders from across the factions, including the Buccaneers. The plan wins some support, but the leaders balk at making Bex the top boss. The rivals agree to fight one another to decide who will command the new entity as they head into Europe.

Bex’s leadership earns him respect within his circle, and he relishes the admiration of younger members. Yet his wife’s warning lingers: the public perception is far from heroic, and many fear him even as they follow his lead. The ICC survives brutal clashes, but the ultimate test is the Buccaneers’ challenge, and Bexy is eager to prove himself against Yeti. In a tense moment, Bexy is stunned when Yeti pulls a gun and shoots.

Oh, come on!

The surviving ICC members gather in a pub to toast Bex as a hero, vowing to carry his legacy into the European battles ahead. They declare that, in memory of their fallen leader, they will keep fighting and push the movement forward. The closing scene then shifts to the film’s players breaking the fourth wall: the hooligan actors turn on the camera crew, hurling drinks and shouting, signaling that the events onscreen blur with a sense of performative reality.