Beckham review: a 'superb' portrait of the footballer and entrepreneur

You might have expected Netflix's four-part documentary about David Beckham, and made by his own production company, to be a hagiography "that would offer a few tasty morsels, but would mostly polish the shiny tiara of Brand Beckham", said Carol Midgley in The Times. "And you would be right." There is also arguably some irony in the fact that it features a couple complaining about media intrusion while handing over family videos for a series about their personal lives. But the crucial question is: is the film entertaining? Well, "I binged the lot in one sitting". 

Directed by Fisher Stevens (the PR man Hugo in "Succession"), it should appeal "whether you're a Manchester United season-ticket holder or more of a Victoria Beckham type", said Rebecca Nicholson in The Guardian. There are interviews with Beckham's parents (his mother in particular is "great value") as well as with celebrities from Eric Cantona and Rio Ferdinand to Anna Wintour. And though the documentary rather skirts over the allegations that he had an affair in the 2000s, "there are loads of gossipy nuggets": about the sarong, the many haircuts, and the decision to wear purple at his wedding – one he can no longer fathom. 

Some of it is moving too, including the scenes in which Beckham and Alex Ferguson talk about how Ferguson turned on, then cast out, the boy "he'd raised like a son", said Benji Wilson in The Daily Telegraph. What ultimately emerges from this series is a "superb" portrait of both "an era and of an unexpectedly complex man".

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