History Film / BendItLikeBeckham

** Also at the wedding when Jule's mother accuses Jess of being a lesbian, a guest hurries to correct her: "No, no, not Lebanese: Indian."

* NoNameGiven: Jess's parents' given names aren't said at any time. Even in the end credits, they're just Mr. and Mrs. Bhamra. (Though her father's full name, Mohan Singh Bhamra, is briefly said when he is on the phone rebooking the wedding; her mother's first name is heard in a deleted scene at the wedding.)

* KarmaHoudini: Jess gets a red card for attacking a player who first fouled her and then called her a racial slur. This girl is never seen being disciplined (although the foul would have been punished by the award of a free kick), and Jess is read the riot act by Joe (who admittedly didn't know about the second one). TruthInTelevision as footballers get away with verbal insults all the time as it is impossible for referees to hear everything, but if the insultee physically retaliates the referee has no option but to penalise them.

* NotSoDifferent: Jess tries to say that Joe wouldn't understand her reacting to being called a "paki" (a slur towards people of South Asian descent). He reminds her that he's Irish, so he understands more than she'd expect. The Irish were historically oppressed by the British for centuries, and Irish immigrants in the UK suffered plenty of discrimination themselves.

Jesminder "Jess" Bhamra (Parminder Nagra) is the daughter of Punjabi Sikh immigrants living in UsefulNotes/{{London}}. She loves football ([[SeparatedByACommonLanguage as in soccer]]), but her parents feel she should be focusing on more womanly, Indian pursuits. Befriending Juliette "Jules" Paxton (Creator/KeiraKnightley), Jess joins a women's team behind their backs, and [[HilarityEnsues hilarity and drama ensue]].

* BrattyTeenageDaughter: Despite being the protagonist, Jess comes off as this from time to time. Her sister Pinky is worse, even though she's certainly not a teenager at that point.

* ParentsAsPeople: Jess's parents are clearly loving and supportive, but the cultural clash between them and their daughters drives much of the plot. Attention is given to how her mother feels about her potential in-laws not thinking Pinky is good enough for their son.

* SettledForGay: Tony tries to get Jess to settle down with him so that he won't have to tell his family he's gay and she can fulfill her parents' expectations and still play football. She doesn't go along, though.

* BillyElliotPlot:
** Jules's mother opposes her doing a boyish hobby and doesn't understand why she doesn't want to go shopping for girly things to snag herself a man.
** Jess's parents are more about her getting into college than doing girly things.

* HistoricalInJoke: "Losing to the Jerries on penalties comes natural to you English. You're part of a long tradition now."

** Joe's father was so determined for him to improve his game that he caused him a CareerEndingInjury. Joe also says he'd "piss himself" if he knew Joe was now coaching a women's team. [[spoiler:Turns out in the end he was wrong: when the league turns the Hounslow Harriers women into a pro team, he tells his dad and Dad's apparently proud of him.]]

* KarmaHoudini: Jess gets a red card for attacking a player who first fouled her and then called her a racial slur. This girl is never seen being disciplined, and Jess is read the riot act by Joe (who admittedly didn't know about the second one). TruthInTelevision as footballers get away with verbal insults all the time as it is impossible for referees to hear everything, but if the insultee physically retaliates the referee has no option but to penalise them.

* KarmaHoudini: Jess gets a red card for attacking a player who first fouled her and then called her a racial slur. This girl is never seen being disciplined, and Jess is read the riot act by Joe (who admittedly didn't know about the second one).

* BillyElliotPlot: Jules's story is a more straight example as her mother opposes her doing a boyish hobby and doesn't understand why she doesn't want to go shopping for girly things to snag herself a man. Jess's story is a little similar, but her parents are more about her getting into college than doing girly things.

* BrattyTeenageDaughter: Despite being the protagonist, Jess comes off as this from time to time. Her sister Pinky is worse.

-->"All I'm saying is, there is a reason why Sporty Spice is the only one of them without a fella."
* LikeADuckTakesToWater: Jess had played in the park for a long time but had never joined a proper team, had coaching or even owned a pair of football boots before the movie began. Fast-forward a mere few weeks and just three matches (all in pre-season exhibition tournaments) and she was ready to vie for the attention of a US college scout.

* MeddlingParents

* ParentsAsPeople: Jess's parents are clearly loving and supportive, but the cultural clash between them and their daughters drives much of the plot.
* PutMeInCoach: Jess has to sub in after halftime in the final, and still manages to impress the scout enough to be offered ''a full ride scholarship on the spot.''

* ShoutOut: Said Spice Girl, who has two songs in the film's soundtrack, got herself a pretty funny shoutout.

%%* YouGoGirl:

* LikeADuckTakesToWater: Jess had played in the park for a long time but had never joined a proper team, had coaching or even owned a pair of football boots before the movie began. Fast-forward a mere few weeks and just two matches (both part of an exhibition tournament) and she was ready to vie for the attention of a US college scout.

* DaydreamSurprise: The opening sequence has Jess inserted into a professional match and saving the day, which might look like a FlashForward. Then it turns into the commentators interviewing her mother, who launches into a tirade against the notion of her "running around with all these men, showing her bare legs to seventy thousand people."

* JackieRobinsonStory: Jess's father faced discrimination when he tried to play cricket in English clubs, and he doesn't believe that things have changed enough for an Indian girl to be accepted as a professional footballer. While Jess has it considerably better, she does get called a Paki[[note]]roughly equivalent to the n-word, and applied to South Asians in the UK[[/note]] at least once. She points out that Ali Hussein was captain of the English football team too, though her mother dismisses that as he's a Muslim.

* LikeADuckTakesToWater: Jess had played in the park for a long time but had never joined a proper team, had coaching or even owned a pair of football boots before the movie began. Fast-forward a mere few months and she was ready to vie for the attention of an international scout.

* BareYourMidriff: Jules often wears crop tops and sports bras throughout the film, [[{{Fanservice}} highlighting Keira Knightly's slender figure.]] Notably she's almost always in a sports bra at football practise, while the other girls are usually in football shirts.

* BillyElliotPlot: Jules's story is a more straight example as her mother opposes her doing a boyish hobby and doesn't understand why she doesn't want to go shopping for girly things to snag herself a man. Jess's story is a little similar, but her parents are more about her getting into university than doing girly things.

* ComicallyMissingThePoint: The Indian parents and elders have no idea what Jules's mum is freaking out about following the wedding reception; they believe the whole kerfuffle is partly a complaint about their noisy celebration and partly confusion over Jules's short hair.

** Also at the wedding when Jule's mother accuses Jess of being a lesbian, a guest hurries to correct her: "No, no, not Lebanese- Indian."

* SadBollywoodWedding: Invoked by the cameraman at Pinky's wedding, who yells at her for looking so happy. "Eyes down. Look sad. Don't smile. Indian bride never smiles. You'll ruin the bloody video!"

** When Jess is talking about how a love match works, one of her teammates asks if an Indian would be allowed to enter into a love match with a white person. Jess replies that no, that would never be approved; marrying for love is only allowed if the other person is also Indian.

** Jess gets in trouble when her family thinks she was "kissing a white boy". She then explains she was with Jules, who is a ''girl''. They are fine with this after the misunderstanding is cleared up and Pinky gets her wedding back on track, though Jules's mother isn't.
** Jess explains what a love match is to one of her teammates: it's not an ArrangedMarriage, but it has to be between two Indians. White people are out, as are black people, and a Muslim is a ''definite'' no no.

** This joke gets extra points when Posh Spice makes a cameo in the end of the film with ''her'' fella- the titular David Beckham. Maybe Paula [[TheCuckoolanderWasRight had a point...]] At the time though, Sporty Spice actually ''did'' have a boyfriend (she was last to become a mother though).