Goal wins, and the one who wins is the public

There is not, nor was there a worse soccer team than American Samoa. In the 2002 World Cup qualifiers, they lost (away) to Australia 31-0. Taika Waititi (the last two of Thor) picks up what happened next in Goal winsa hilarious comedy that kids can also watch.

The New Zealand director and his co-writer Iain Morris worked on the basis of the documentary of the same title as the original (Next Goal Wins), directed by Mike Brett and Steve Jamison. More than a decade has passed since that pitiful defeat, and worse than ever, but having never won or tied a game means that the Pacific National Team had never scored a goal.

When all seems more lost than ever, the president of the American Samoa Football Federation, Tavita (Oscar Kightley), makes a resolution. We have to change the coach, since the players, in a territory where there are 40,000 inhabitants, it is impossible to find water under the stones.

This is how the Dutchman Thomas Rongen arrives, who was coaching in the United States, but he is fired and given an ultimatum: either he abandons football or he grabs the hot iron.

Everything that counts Goal wins It is based on real events. The goalkeeper obeyed the commands of our pasture (the most obese goes to the goal), they cannot usually make three passes in a row without making a mistake and one of the figures, Jaiyah Saelua (played by Kaimana) is the first trans player to have played in a qualifying round. .

Of course, football in American Samoa is amateur, everyone has other jobs to earn a living. Rongen, no. Bad-tempered, he believes himself above his management, until he understands that the best thing is his motto: “Family is what you make it.”

The coach will have a secret kept – no, he is not a soccer star to hire, but something more painful – and in his relationship with the team and the people of American Samoa he will build something similar to a soccer team.

Rongen, who is played by Michael Fassbender, after Waititi himself realized that his compatriot Russell Crowe was so fat that he couldn’t pass for the coach. The actor who was Erik Lensherr in X Men First generation and starred Shame and the recent The murdererof David Finchershe dyed blonde and more than anything you can tell that she had a great time filming, even though it was in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic.

There are familiar faces, such as Elisabeth Moss (The Handmaid’s Tale), like Rongen’s ex-wife, who is one of those who fire him, or Will Arnett (the series 30 Rock), kind of like his old boss. But the best are the locals, starting with the president of the Federation, followed by Kaimana (the trans player) and the goalkeeper who returns from that embarrassing day of 31 to 0 down to achieve what sounds impossible: keep his goal at zero and for the National Team to score, once and for all, a goal.

The goal is scored by Taika Waititi. In full euphoria for the anniversary of the consecration of La Scaloneta, Goal wins It’s the right movie.

Comedy. United Kingdom/United States, 2023. Original title: “Next Goal Wins”. 104′, ATP with legend. Of: Taika Waititi. Con: Michael Fassbender, Oscar Kightley, Kaimana, Elisabeth Moss, Will Arnett. Salas: Cinemark Palermo, Hoyts Dot, Cinépolis Recoleta and Pilar, Showcase Belgrano and Norcenter.