Beckham documentary receives rave reviews from critics

Beckham documentary receives rave reviews from critics who praise ‘riveting’ and ‘candid’ series as the best sports doc in years

The BECKHAM documentary has gone down a treat with critics who have praised the four-part series as ‘riveting’, ‘candid’ and the best sports documentary in years.

The tell-all series, released on Wednesday at 8am, sees David, 48, and Victoria, 49, give an intimate insight into their marriage and early romance, their family life, as well as charting David’s footballing career. 

Several publications have given the show a positive assessment including The Telegraph who described it as a ‘heartbreaking portrayal of an unexpectedly complex man’.

They had particular praise for the scenes of David and legendary Manchester United Boss Alex Ferguson.

They wrote: ‘In particular, the scenes in which Beckham and Alex Ferguson are intercut, talking about how Ferguson turned on, and cast out, the boy who he’d raised like a son, are simply heartbreaking.’

Reception: The BECKHAM documentary has gone down a treat with critics who have praised the four-part series as ‘riveting’, ‘candid’ and the best sports documentary in years

Candid: The tell-all documentary, released on Wednesday at 8am, sees David and Victoria give an intimate insight into their marriage and early romance

The Guardian also praised the documentary, saying David comes across as a man who ‘likes to be in control in all aspects of his life’.

They added: ‘It turns out to be a surprisingly candid look at the life and career of one of the most famous footballers of all time, and it certainly is a rollicking ride.’

Another positive review came from The Independent who praised director Fisher Stevens for his work on the project and for assembling ‘an impressive cast of interviewees’. 

They also highlighted David’s wife Victoria’s appearance in the show, writing: ‘We hear that he used to drive for hours just to see Victoria for ‘seven minutes’ at the height of her Spice Girls fame. 

‘The couple sound like they were totally obsessed by one another from the start, and still come across as very content today. But they only let us in so far.’

The i newspaper gave a more mixed review, saying Victoria was the ‘real star’ of the show but criticised it for not delving deep enough into David’s idiosyncrasies.

They wrote: ‘Beckham also fails to explore its subject’s psyche in any meaningful way. 

‘Multiple scenes hint that Beckham’s need for tidiness and order (his wardrobe is meticulously arranged, and he cleans his kitchen incessantly) might be a symptom of something more serious than a preference for cleanliness, but the show never actually goes there.’

Positive: Several publications have given the series a positive assessment including The Telegraph who described it as a ‘heartbreaking portrayal of an unexpectedly complex man’

Cute couple: David and Victoria were all over each other in the early stages of their romance

The Sydney Morning Herald gave the doc a glowing review, praising it as the best sports documentary since The Last Dance, a 2020 miniseries about Michael Jordan.

They wrote that director Stevens ‘does a solid job unspooling the disparate threads that made Beckham such a fascinating figure: a people pleaser with an ‘I do what I want’ rebellious streak, who struggled to assert his own individuality against the tough-and-controlling father figures (his football-mad dad Ted, and Sir Alex) whose love he so desperately sought.’ 

The Times gave a more mixed review, praising the documentary as ‘entertaining’ but also noting it feels like a brand boosting opportunity for the couple.

They wrote: ‘You might have expected Netflix’s four-hour documentary about David Beckham to be a doting hagiography that would offer a few tasty morsels but would mostly polish the shiny tiara of Brand Beckham. And you would be right. That’s precisely what it does.’

During the doc, David choked back tears as he spoke candidly about his life and career, reflecting on his three decades in the spotlight. 

The sportsman burst into the limelight at the tender age of 17 as Manchester United’s budding new midfielder, quickly earning himself the reputation as football’s golden boy and one of the most talented players of his generation. 

Yet his career threatened to be derailed when he was blamed for England’s World Cup 1998 exit after lashing out at Diego Simeone, sparking a lengthy campaign of hate and abuse from fans. 

BECKHAM: The reviews at a glance

The Guardian: ‘It turns out to be a surprisingly candid look at the life and career of one of the most famous footballers of all time, and it certainly is a rollicking ride.’

The Telegraph: ‘The scenes in which Beckham and Alex Ferguson are intercut, talking about how Ferguson turned on, and cast out, the boy who he’d raised like a son, are simply heartbreaking.’

The Times: ‘You might have expected Netflix’s four-hour documentary about David Beckham to be a doting hagiography that would offer a few tasty morsels but would mostly polish the shiny tiara of Brand Beckham. And you would be right.’

The Independent: ‘The couple sound like they were totally obsessed by one another from the start, and still come across as very content today. But they only let us in so far.’

The i: ‘Beckham  fails to explore its subject’s psyche in any meaningful way.’

Reflecting on the turbulent period, which David faced at the age of just 23, the athlete confessed he was a ‘mess’ and left unable to eat or sleep, with his wife Victoria revealing he suffered from clinical depression and the experience ‘broke’ him. 

David recalled feeling ‘very vulnerable and alone’ as he landed back in the UK to hordes of jeering spectators and negative press, with his father Ted admitting David was ‘distraught’ when he met him, saying the young sports star ‘fell into my arms and said, “I’ve left everybody down.”‘ 

In the series Victoria also speaks for the first time about the pain she suffered in the aftermath of the claims about David’s alleged affair with Rebecca Loos, with the former Spice Girl breaking down in tears as she confides it was the ‘hardest’ time of her life.

In a searingly honest interview in the fourth and final episode, Victoria appeared to fight back tears as she was asked if it was the hardest time in their marriage. ‘100 per cent,’ she confessed. ‘It was the hardest period for us. Because it felt like the world was against us.

‘Here’s the thing, we were against each other, if I’m being completely honest. Up until Madrid sometimes it felt like us against everybody else but we were together, we were connected, we had each other. But when we were in Spain, it didn’t really feel like we had each other either. And that’s sad. I can’t even begin to tell you how hard it was. And how it affected me.’

Candid: In the series Victoria also speaks for the first time about the pain she suffered in the aftermath of the claims about David’s alleged affair with Rebecca Loos (Rebecca pictured in 2004) 

David stunned the world when his alleged relationship with Ms Loos were revealed in the now defunct News Of The World newspaper. At the time Mrs Beckham had decided to remain in the UK so that her young sons Brooklyn and Romeo could stay in their schools. The decision left Beckham lonely, and he admits that he struggled.

He said: ‘When I first moved to Spain it was difficult because I had been part of a club and a family for my whole career, from the age of 15 to when I was 27. I get sold overnight, the next minute I’m in a city, I don’t speak the language. More importantly, I didn’t have my family.

‘Every time that we woke up we felt there was something else… we both felt at the time that we were not losing each other but drowning.’

Asked how their marriage survived, Beckham told how he feared playing football while his wife struggled to find a way through their crisis.

Shaking his head, he said: ‘I don’t know how we got through it, in all honestly. Victoria is everything to me, to see her hurt was incredibly difficult, but we’re fighters and at that time we needed to fight for each other, we needed to fight for our family.

‘And what we had was worth fighting for. There were some days that I would wake up and think, ‘How am I going to go to work? How am I going to walk on to that training pitch? How am I going to look as if nothing’s wrong?’ I felt physically sick every day when I opened my eyes, ‘How am I going to do this?’

BECKHAM is available to stream on Netflix on October 4 from 8AM. 

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