Next Goal Wins
I very much enjoyed writer/director
Taika Waititi's vampire comedy What We Do in the Shadows. His Thor:
Ragnarok is one of the most fun Marvel movies to date and his 2019 film Jojo
Rabbit had some flaws but was still a daring, worthwhile film. I'm also a
lifelong soccer fan, so I really wanted to like Waititi's new comedy Next
Goal Wins, which is about the American Samoa soccer team's efforts to
recover after the worst loss in international soccer history (31-0). Alas, it
suffers from a weak script and some stale jokes.
Michael Fassbender plays Thomas Rongen,
a coach who's been fired from enough jobs he has no choice left but to take
over the hapless American Samoa squad. Upon arriving on the tiny island, he is
put off by the players' lack of skill and carefree attitude towards life and
the game.
The arc, of course, is predictable:
Fassbender learns to loosen up a little and the team eventually restores its
dignity. But sports movies are generally predictable and this one still could
have worked with the right execution.
However, a lot of the film's humor is
derived from movie references. Too many jokes fall flat. A
sort-of-romantic-triangle between Rongen and his separated wife (Elizabeth
Moss) and his boss (Will Arnott) eats up screen time while going nowhere. A
framing device involving Waititi playing a priest is unnecessary and unfunny.
There aren't a lot of good soccer
movies in cinema history, but if you're looking for some, try Bend It Like
Beckham, Victory, The Damned United, or the Colin Firth version of Fever
Pitch.
