PG-13 Comedy 2023 1h 44m
The American Samoa soccer team has never scored a goal in its entire existence. Ten years before the setting of this movie, they lost a game to Australia 31-0. They are literally the worst team in the world. A down-on-his luck coach is brought in to mold the team. It's basically The Bad News Bears Play Soccer In American Samoa starring Michael Fassbender as Coach Buttermaker. It’s a plot you’ve seen enough that it might qualify as its own sub-genre: a ragtag group of underdogs comprise a sports team that must rally to win in order to prevent something bad happening/save the local community center/etc. (In this case winning means saving face by scoring a single goal.) The story is so well trodden there is a 2014 film of the same name documenting this soccer team.
However, we’ve never seen the story through the filter of Taika Waititi. Waititi can be a great film maker. Jojo Rabbit somehow managed to be a touching comedy featuring Hitler; in my mind one of the best films of 2019 and his best work. This movie isn’t in that level but Next Goal Wins doesn’t aim to be an Oscar contender or a big action movie like his work with Thor. Instead it fills the story with quirk, humor, heart, character development and a message of acceptance. I laughed out loud several times during the movie and found myself smiling throughout. It managed to feel like a fresh take on familiar ground. I enjoyed the movie and would recommend it.
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