Next Goal Wins movie review

MOVIE TITLE: Next Goal Wins

This paint-by-numbers underdog movie is now playing in theaters.

RATING: PG-13

LENGTH: 1 hour 44 minutes

MOVIE REVIEW MOM GRADE: B+

IN A NUTSHELL:

The film was directed by Taika Waititi, who also puts himself in the very first scene. He appears again towards the end, but he is definitely not the focus of the movie. His role is to provide flavor while introducing us to the culture of American Samoa. You can see his sense of humor in the telling of the feel-good story.

Writing credits also go to Taika Waititi who co-wrote the movie with Iain Morris. The talented Andy Serkis is one of the Executive Producers of the film.

THINGS I LIKED:

Michael Fassbender gives us a fantastic performance, as we’ve come to expect in all of his films.
The rest of the cast does a good job too and includes Will Arnett, Elisabeth Moss, Rachel House, Beulah Koale, Kaimana, Oscar Knightley, David Fane, and others. We get to learn a little bit about the culture of America Samoa.
I love the look of Rachel House’s cool smile. She was really great in the movie The Portable Door. I’d like to see more of her.
I really liked the “marinating” analogy. Sometimes, we just need to marinate on a problem or situation.
Like all sports movies similar to this one, it’s fun to watch the training sequences when the team goes from terrible to really good.
I loved the spirited dance by the team before the first big game began.
You don’t have to really like soccer to thoroughly enjoy this fun film.
At the end of the movie, we get to see photos and video clips of the real people this movie is about.
I laughed, I smiled, but this one didn’t make me cry.

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE:

Sometimes, it’s hard to understand what everyone is saying due to their thick accents.
Only a few of the players on the team are featured. It would have been nice to get to know all of them better, although I recognize that’s extremely hard to do in only 90 minutes.
Some may worry that the movie is attempting another “White Savior” story.
A character sings the song “Chandelier” by Sia, which is cute; however, the film is supposed to take place in 2011, while the song didn’t come out until 2014.
There are a few bad acting moments.

TIPS FOR PARENTS:

Someone draws many women’s breasts on a man’s face. We see them in quite a few scenes. It’s supposed to be funny. It’s not.
One of the characters is Trans.
Some profanity, including 1 F-bomb.
Lots of alcohol
Bullying
A man has anger management issues
Some Samoan is spoken without subtitles.

THEMES:

Traditions
Soccer/Futbol
Teamwork
Humility
Respect
Hard work
The Samoan culture

FUNNY LINES:

“I have a very particular set of skills.” – Thomas Rongen (Michael Fassbender)
“I’m not God but I may as well be because I perform more miracles.” – Thomas Rongen (Michael Fassbender)
“I’d like to apologize, but I won’t.” – Thomas Rongen (Michael Fassbender)