Play-acting on the pitch is usually frowned upon by fans of the game, but as Eric Cantona's upcoming role as himself in Ken Loach's "Looking For Eric," which is in competition at next month's Cannes Film Festival shows, that hasn’t stopped some of the world’s best players from combining the beautiful game with the big screen.

Cantona is no stranger to the movie world - the enigmatic Frenchman shocked the football by announcing his intention to launch a serious film career on his retirement from the game. A cameo role in the Oscar-nominated 1998 historical drama, "Elizabeth" was an atypically low key debut for the legendary striker, but Cantona has since amassed a substantial filmography of both English and French films.

Now Cantona takes on arguably his biggest role to date - that of himself. "Looking For Eric" is the story of a Manchester United-supporting milkman who experiences visions of Cantona as he attempts to escape a mid-life crisis. The film, directed by Ken Loach, has been tipped for success at the Cannes Film Festival next month.

The beautiful game’s universal appeal has captivated many a film-maker for generations, from Wim Wenders’ psychological take in "The Goalkeeper’s Fear of the Penalty" (1972), to Loach’s manic PE teacher in "Kes" (1969).

But it was 1981’s "Escape to Victory" that really kicked off the football film revolution. Pele and Bobby Moore’s star turns were never likely to be up for Oscar nominations, but seeing them share the screen with Sylvester Stallone and Michael Caine popularized the idea that footballers themselves could appear on celluloid.

Former Wimbledon and Chelsea hardman Vinnie Jones is one of the more unlikely players to embark on an acting career, enjoying success playing a gangster in Guy Ritchie’s "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" and "Snatch." He subsequently got back into his football kit to appear in "Mean Machine" (2001), a soccer-based remake of the American football film "The Longest Yard."

The most famous player of them all, David Beckham, went one better and had a film named after him - "Bend It Like Beckham" (2002) - although his only "appearance" in the film was actually a lookalike posing as the free kick specialist. However, since his move to Los Angeles Galaxy in 2007, Beckham has been no stranger to the Hollywood lifestyle, and indeed did have a cameo in the first of the "Goal!" trilogy, alongside then Real Madrid team-mate Zinedine Zidane.

Zidane, a former World Player of the Year, was the sole star of a 2001 documentary, "Zidane: A Twentieth Century Portrait," in which his movement was closely tracked by a team of cameramen during the course of a Spanish Liga game.

And it seems that even the lure of merely appearing in your own movie isn’t enough to sate the footballing appetite for cinema, with some players starting to work behind the camera.

French international Vikash Dhorasoo released his video diary of the 2006 World Cup, "Substitute" (2007), to acclaim at the IDFA Documentary Festival in Amsterdam, documenting his frustration at being consigned to the bench during France’s run to the World Cup Final on Super-8 film.

As both the subject and director of the documentary, Dhorasoo stripped away the glamour of international tournaments, showing the boredom - and even depression - that permeates the lives of the perennial bench-warmer.

Of course, not every footballer after a film career has to make a film about football. England defenders Ashley Cole and Rio Ferdinand may currently have Chelsea and Manchester United’s Champions’ League campaigns to contend with, but both have signed up as executive producers on 50 Cent’s next film, "Dead Man Running," a gangster flick also starring "The Football Factory’s" Danny Dyer.

Which football movies hit the target for you? Which ones leave you as sick as a parrot?