It's back.
The infamous Mick McCarthy and Roy Keane volcanic relationship is revisited in all its grubby glory in the movie Saipan.
Starring Steve Coogan as an apprehensive McCarthy, and rising star Éanna Hardwicke as a steely-eyed Keano, it is the blood, sweat and fiery exchanges of their relationship that is at the heart of this drama.
Watching Saipan is like going to your nearest airport and stepping on a plane that brings you straight back into the summer of 2002.
Written by Paul Fraser, it is brought to the screen by the directing duo Lisa Barros D'Sa and Glenn Leyburn, who previously co-directed Good Vibrations and Ordinary Love.
Starting with shots of a young Keane practising his football (can you imagine him as a 10-year-old?) it quickly romps through his stellar and at times controversial football career. That done, it throws us straight into the fray of the infamous 2002 World Cup story, where tensions between McCarthy and Keane are brutally clear from the off.
One of the opening scenes shows a tense phone call from Roy Keane's Manchester United manager, the legendary Alex Ferguson to Mick McCarthy (Coogan) as he is driving along with the ever-patient Mick Byrne (Peter McDonald).
Ferguson brutally informs him that Keano will not be playing with the Irish squad in Iran, and McCarthy is left stunned in the car.
From there, the movie takes off like a rocket.
Across just over 90 minutes you are invited to re-live so many familiar voices and scenes that dominated our lives over twenty years ago.
Actors playing instantly recognisable characters, including Niall Quinn and Jason McAteer, bring the story to life. As the rows and tension ratchet up, faces like Eamon Dunphy’s are back as the pressure from fans at home and the press attention is starkly depicted.
Saipan is soaked in delicious archive and the soundtrack pulsates with much-loved anthems from the time.
The camera never stops working, as it hops from ludicrously exotic party scenes in Saipan to the oh-so-many tight close-ups of the two main characters' faces as they wrestle with their growing nightmare.
Interestingly, the film also shows the warmth of both characters’ family lives with the long-suffering Theresa (Harriet Cains), Roy Keane’s wife, giving a star turn with yoga pants to match.
The performances by Hardwicke and Coogan are outstanding.
They both deliver excellent versions of two characters which feel authentic and never cartoonish. From the opening sequence, the two actors reel you into their worlds, and it is a joy of a journey.
Coming out from the movie, several facts become obvious.
The FAI standards at the time were shocking and threadbare. For example, seeing the 'infamous' training pitch in Saipan through Keane's eyes is mortifying and the "no footballs, sunscreen or water bottles" on site for the team preparation is just jaw dropping.
The accuracy of Keane’s headline grabbing quote, "Fail to prepare, prepare to fail" is hard to debate.
As Roy Keane (Hardwicke) says at one point, "It's a privilege to get to a World Cup, George Best never got to play in one", but the movie leaves no doubt that a professional player had to sacrifice standards to wear the green jersey.
The clever part of the movie though, is that Mick McCarthy clearly sees the gaps too and is muddling his way through.
"You're unmanageable!" McCarthy yells in frustration at Keane, and Roy responds,
"And you can't manage!"
Saipan grapples with both truths.
It clearly shows the pressure on a national squad tasked with holding a nation's dreams in its hands with threadbare supports and it asks tough questions.
Should Keane have just influenced the squad, as best he could as its captain, and then swallowed his pride and played for his country?
Should McCarthy have admitted he was out of his depth managing the big beasts in his squad and wrangling the amateur environment facilitated by the FAI?
The film also reminds us that the Irish squad successfully got through to the final 16, ultimately losing out on penalties to Spain so would Roy’s presence have been enough to get the team through?
Saipan boldly shoots straight into the intimate personal worlds of these two men, shedding light on what was "really going on" as they snarl, joust and glare endlessly at each other on screen.
It is wildly entertaining, but is poignant too as we are reminded of how this big, noisy mess could all have been avoided.
It sets itself the task of bringing us into the hearts, heads and dreams of two of Irish football’s biggest names and gives them both a fair hearing.
Is this film going to change your life?
No.
Is this film going to change your mind?
Maybe.
Let the Roy v Mick battles begin again.
