Soccer at the End of the World: A review of the movie "Next Goal Wins"
Taika Waititi's simple but heartwarming comedy about the world's worst soccer team.
2011. Soccer coach Thomas Rongen (Michael Fassbender) has divorced his wife (Elisabeth Moss) and lost his job for the third time in a row. Functionaries from the U.S. federation send the coach to American Samoa. The national team of the small country occupies the last place in the world ranking and is known for the largest defeat in the history of soccer - 0:31 from Australia in 2001. The players of American Samoa did not perform better on the field, but Rongen's task is manageable - the team needs to score at least one goal in qualifying matches for the World Cup. The coach will have to find himself and approach to amateurs, with whom he has not had to work before.
"The next goal - winning" is based on real events, and the story of the Dutch-American coach Thomas Rongen and the American Samoa national soccer team nine years earlier was outlined in a documentary of the same name British Mike Brett and Steve Jamieson. But first of all the feature film is interesting in the name of the director - shot sports comedy Taika Waititi. Production of the picture began at the end of 2019, but the pandemic made its adjustments. It also required additional filming. And as a result, "The next goal is the winning goal" was first shown at last year's festival in Toronto.
Taika Waititi's sports comedy about soccer losers and an explosive coach sounds great. However, the picture was not very much to the taste of critics, and the hit box office did not become, earning only a little more than 16 million with a budget of 14 million. The script Waititi wrote together with Ian Morris ("Flight of the Conchords" and "Overgrowth"). Although the director didn't return to his native New Zealand for filming, it's still a story about the people of Oceania.
Together with a visiting coach, the audience gets acquainted with a small country consisting of several islands. The national team is played by amateurs: someone works as a waiter, another as a policeman, another as a loader. One of the recurring jokes in the movie is the multiple jobs of American Samoa Soccer Federation president Tavita (Oscar Kightly). The functionary both keeps the family restaurant and sports affairs, and even shoots episodes of a popular television program. On the islands in the Pacific, religion plays an important role, with the players having a friendly prayer once a day. The locals seem to be friendly and enjoy life, but would still like to score at least one goal in official matches.
The players lack skills and understanding of the game, so at first Rongen simply does not believe in the team. Dyed blond Fassbender almost the entire movie walks around in a T-shirt, shorts and socks, with a cup in his hands. The coach usually sips not coffee, but hard liquor. At his last jobs, Rongen threw chairs in different directions and yelled, so for him, the American Samoa national team is a second chance. The charges want to prove to themselves and the world that they can play soccer, and the 0:31 from Australia should be forgotten.
"The next goal is the winning goal" is interesting primarily because of the dynamics of the relationship between the coach and his charges. At first it seems like they are people from different worlds. Relaxed and cheerful players, and next to a half-drunk, agitated and perpetually dissatisfied coach. But Rongen has a lot to learn from the people of American Samoa, and the foreigner can slightly improve the soccer skills of the islanders. Mentor and players move toward each other to become a cohesive team.
Waititi's picture can hardly be called hilarious. The traditions of the island country, which are not very clear to outsiders, as well as the soccer talents of amateurs are mocked in a kindly way. Perhaps the funniest episode is the search for players for the national team. Rongen gathers the team by bits and pieces and persuades former athletes to return to the field. And the coach seems to be making motivational speeches, but given the context and the level of American Samoa's play, it's still funny.
In some places the scriptwriters make fun of sports movie stamps, the material allows it. Before the audience unfolds not the story of great champions, but of losers who just want to become a little better, but not to change themselves. Of course, no one is going to quit their job as a waiter or a longshoreman for the sake of a dubious sporting future. You don't need to win the World Cup, you don't even need to qualify for the prestigious tournament, you just need to score at least a goal. It will already be a historic event.
Fassbender in a comedy role does not look very convincing. Much more natural look little-known actors playing soccer players and ordinary residents of American Samoa. Elisabeth Moss, Will Arnett and Luke Hemsworth appear on the second roles, but their roles are tiny, background ones. There are enough gaps in the movie with character development.
"The Next Goal is the Winning Goal" is an unnecessary, not very original, but thanks to an amazing true story, a charming comedy. A few smiles and even tears of emotion in the finale are quite possible. The movie once again proves the democratic nature of sports. "The main thing is not victory, but participation," said Baron Pierre de Coubertin at the opening of the 1908 Summer Olympics. In the 21st century, more than 100 years later, also thanks to the American Samoa soccer team, the expression does not turn into empty buzzwords.
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