Stream It Or Skip It: ‘That Peter Crouch Film’ on Prime Video, a Biographical Look at the English Football Striker’s Career

Peter Crouch didn’t look like a footballer. Standing at a lanky 6’-7”, his awkward frame drew laughter from crowds the first time he stepped on the pitch as a professional. He proved the doubters wrong, becoming a top scorer over a long career in Premier League football. In That Peter Crouch Film, a new documentary now streaming on Prime Video, we get a look at his life, career and affable personality.

THAT PETER CROUCH FILM: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

The Gist: It took decades for Peter Crouch to make the case that he was a footballer. The lanky striker, shaped more like a basketball player than a footballer, scored over 100 goals in a long Premier League career, and has parlayed that into a successful post-playing career as a television presenter and podcaster. In That Peter Crouch Film, we get a look at the story of how he overcame his doubters, with commentary from many of his peers and managers.

What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: It’s a pretty standard single-athlete-focus documentary, of which there are many these days–things like Passion Play: Russell Westbrook, Kevin Garnett: Anything Is Possible, Neymar: The Perfect Chaos, and so on. The only real difference here is that they didn’t go for a two-part title like Peter Crouch: Such Great Height or the like.

Performance Worth Watching: While Crouch is the center of the film’s universe, some of the more entertaining moments come in commentary from his previous managers, including his under-18 manager Bob Arber, and former Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp.

Memorable Dialogue: “When you look at Peter, there’s nothing about him that tells you ‘this is a footballer’,” says Daily Telegraph football writer Sam Wallace, comparing Crouch’s beanpole physique to that of more prototypical football stars.

Sex and Skin: None.

Our Take: We’ve reached a point in the streaming-media landscape where any athlete with a decently-long career and a halfway-competent agent eventually gets a documentary produced about them. These are often well-made films with skilled filmmakers working behind the scenes, but they’re inherently limited by how interested you — the viewer — are in the subject themselves.

That Peter Crouch Film, as the title implies, is that documentary for Peter Crouch, the former Premier League striker. Crouch scored over 100 Premier League goals–one of only 33 players in history to do so–over a career that saw him play for Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur, Stoke and Portsmouth, among other clubs. It tells of the player’s unlikely rise to stardom, overcoming doubters and making a career for himself.

The primary adversity that Crouch overcame, however — being really tall — isn’t a hugely compelling story on its own. There’s no doubt that English football fans — famously not the most accepting lot — gave Crouch a fair amount of abuse when he first stepped on the pitch, a gawky beanpole who looked more like a guy who’d be drafted in the late second round of the NBA Draft than a top Premier League striker. “What’s that lanky wanker going to do?”, one contemporary sums up the reaction — but it’s not exactly an Oscar-worthy story.

The primary strength of That Peter Crouch Film is that he seems quite likable, and you want to root for him to succeed. The documentary is well done, but unless you’re a hardcore fan of English football — or perhaps a parent of an awkwardly-tall child who needs inspiration — there’s probably not enough here to draw your interest.

Our Call: SKIP IT. That Peter Crouch Film is a perfectly endearing and well-made look at the player’s career, but unless you’re specifically a fan of Crouch or his past teams, it won’t have a lot to draw you in.

Scott Hines is an architect, blogger and proficient internet user based in Louisville, Kentucky who publishes the widely-beloved Action Cookbook Newsletter.