Next Goal Wins
Summary
Taika Waititi , known for his ability to incorporate humor in even the most disconcerting scenario , fall to theToronto International Film Festivalthis September to premiere his fresh lineament . His latest is center around the American Samoa internal football game squad after their infamous 31 - 0 licking in the 2002 World Cup modification match . That fact alone has sire some laugh across the soccer community , and Waititi has taken it one gradation further . According to the director , Next Goal Winscontains some embellishments , but its biggest mischance is missing the mark on joke and limiting the character ontogenesis for almost every person in the film . Sure , the movie includes the uplift Cinderella floor we ’d all expect , but it fails its characters and culture in the process .
I ’ll cut to the chase here : Without bonk the effect of the story , spectator will well get to interpret how it will all terminate ground on the tone and complex body part of the film . As viewers , we ’ve become accustomed to the successes of underdog stories , and it ’s no problem here as well . My issue withNext Goal Winscomes during the mediate component part of the film , which suffers severely from Waititi ’s humor . It ’s incredibly forced and comes off as a takeoff of the team and culture . And instead of using the time and space to bring the audience into the Samoan way of aliveness , there ’s always a jape that cuts off any insight to their beautiful , culturally robust world .
While these moments are few and far between , it ’s nice to see a group of people persevere out of love of the game and each other . But this is a missed opportunity for the director ( who co - wrote the script with Iain Morris ) to showcase the cultivation . It ’s also disappointing because of Waititi ’s setting and indecorum with Pacific cultures . But to not showcase the smasher of the islands onscreen is a miss . Visually , the film is leaden , and the filming is forgettable , making it difficult to trust the film was even fool in Honolulu , Hawaii . Luckily , find how the teammate interact with one another makes up for the lack in visual genius , but it ’s still a disappointment nonetheless .
With all the job that exist throughoutNext Goal Wins , it ’s important to mention the standouts . Specifically , Kaimana as Jaiyah Saelua , the first openly trans charwoman to participate in a World Cup qualifying game , is the heart of the film and one of the few players to have an electric arc . Kaimana does a sensational job hitting those worked up moment throughout the motion-picture show . Her scenes help to balance the often overuse comedic ones . Michael Fassbender is also a standout as Dutch - American coach Thomas Rongen . He seems to have had a blast conveying all the emotions he is tasked with , even though his character ’s growth come off as a heavy drastic and abrupt . really , the entire cast is one of the reasons you should catch the film .
At the end of the day , there ’s no dubiety in my psyche that people will have it away this film . It ’s a feel - adept fun dramedy , after all . If nothing else , Next Goal Winsteaches us the value of retrieve fellowship and that life is n’t all about deliver the goods . But these are lesson with which we are already familiar . regrettably , the longevity of this cinema feels non - existent thanks to how it ’s framed . It ’s goofy and relies hard on vulgar tropes , failing to offer insight into the role player as people outside their team . If you ’re take care for something to pull on the heart string for a couple of moments , then this pic works . But do n’t look a grand production with a meaningful content beyond your typical underdog story . What you see here is truly what you get .
This review was pen during the 2023 Toronto Film Festival . Next Goal Winswill be release theatrically on November 17 . The film is 103 minutes and rated PG-13 for crude fabric and some strong language .
Next Goal Wins is a sports - comedy film based on a documentary of the same name release in 2014 . direct by Taika Waititi , the film takes a more comical approach to the level of one coach ’s attempt to take the American Samoa national football team , consider the worst in the world , to the FIFA World Cup .
Next Goal Wins is a sports-comedy film based on a documentary of the same name released in 2014. Directed by Taika Waititi, the film takes a more comical approach to the story of one coach’s attempt to take the American Samoa national football team, considered the worst in the world, to the FIFA World Cup.
