"Just think of someone you hate."

That's the advice Matt Bruckner (Elijah Wood) gets from Pete (Charlie Hunnam) as he rushes into his first hooligan brawl on the cobbled streets of London. Pete leads the Green Street Elite, the "firm" (or gang) devoted to London's West Ham football team. He's addicted to bashing the skulls of rival firm members. Matt ... well, Matt is played by Frodo.

Movie review

Showtimes and trailer

"Green Street Hooligans," with Elijah Wood, Charlie Hunnam, Claire Forlani. Directed by Lexi Alexander, from a screenplay by Alexander, Dougie Brimson and Joshua Shelov. 109 minutes. Rated R for brutal violence, language. Meridian.

Filmdom's favorite hobbit may seem an odd choice to play an American drawn, quite voluntarily, into the beer-soaked world of hooligans. But Wood's diminutive stature (and underrated talent) gives "Green Street Hooligans" a clever twist, and Matt definitely has someone he hates: He's just been expelled from Harvard, forced to take the fall for an Ivy League snob who planted his cocaine stash in Matt's closet. Seeking solace in London with his sister (the ever-tearful Claire Forlani), Matt falls in with her brother-in-law, Pete, and his rage finds perfect outlet in the adrenaline rush of hooligan violence.

As a former German karate and kickboxing champion, director Lexi Alexander expertly channels Matt's rage as dramatic energy, and her hyperkinetic pacing ensures that "Green Street Hooligans" is briskly driven by survival instinct and thuggish camaraderie. The movie forces you into primal alertness, its effectiveness enhanced by exceptional casting and escalating tension that plays on your emotions. The ultimate condemnation of hooliganism barely rings true, but there's enough depth of character and plot to make it work with blunt-force efficiency.

Jeff Shannon: j.sh@verizon.net