Gol gana

I had several expectations from this one. Taika Waititi and football? Get out of here! One of the funniest directors and actors takes the round ball and tells a sport story? The greatest genre and greatest sport alive, all wrapped up with a Michael Fassbender ribbon. Can't get something better for an hour and a half of my time.

The story is worn out - store wise. It's the cranky coach that cannot success anywhere and will make his correct turn when he takes ab bunch of losers and try to rehabilitate them and shoot them and their careers to another level. Well...its almost what you'll see in this movie...almost.

We are talking about American Samoa national team, that suffered the biggest lose in professional football and got new coach, that failed measurably in last two years. A matching from heaven or hell, if you ask me. But then again...things start to develop between two sides and a silver lining is ahead for both sides.

Can't say that this movie made me connect emotionally or be unforgettable, but it made me laugh with Waititi's special kind of humor. It has another star except the coach and she tells another story, of tolerance and love and it is gentle and beautiful. Except those two stories we get hell of a fun and joyride from this great director.

The shell of the movie is pretty much what you get from a sport drama genre general movie. The internal details and content, about losers that just like the game, is something else and the collision between them and the coach that might teach them how to level up, while they teach him to mellow down - that's the stuff that dreams are made from.

I don't understand how a fair critics have rated this movie so poorly.

This is a funny, feel good movie about underdogs who you route for throughout the whole movie. The characters are likeable, the music is good and mainly it's just a fun movie. It doesn't add anything to the sport film catalog but when it comes to sport films, this is definitely one of my favorites. In my opinion, it's very rewatchable.

You can tell it's a Taika waititi movie with his obvious style of comedy. It works for the majority of the movie but does sometimes feel forced or falls flat. I don't know the whole story about the American Somoan football team but as movie, I really enjoyed this story and would recommend it.

This is a smart movie, not for the people looking for a formulaic plot. It starts out that way - misbehaving coach gets stuck with the worst team in the world. Moviegoers expecting a miracle will be disappointed, because this is (mostly) a true story. And truth is always a bit more complicated.

But, it's also not taking's itself too seriously, which is absolutely necessary for the story. It's meant to be dumb and silly, which is ironically what makes it so smart (Yes, that's right). That's why this is for intelligent people who see hardship as the best stuff of life, not that which we must fix to be "whole" people. It's anti-perfectionism and against worshipping advantages over character. Which is what smart people know is most important.

Often, I want a movie that is like a fairytale - that gives me pure escapism. And, I'm certainly not one to nitpick entertainment for not being "realistic", and it annoys me when people complain about that when it clearly wasn't the intention of a film. And, those movies make me laugh and feel happy, and that's great. But, that joy is not like real life. With a film like Next Goal Wins, there is an opportunity to experience true joy for something real, which makes it refreshingly different.

I felt cringe for the coach's drinking and terrible behavior. Unlike I suspect many, I saw his back story coming. I also felt his personal disappointment for his wife's unfortunate romantic choices. He is not a perfect character, nor is he meant to be. My favorite scene is probably the team's little pre-game performance at the final game - it is the climax before the resolution. As I expected what came next, it was a satisfying and cathartic ending to me.

As someone who knows what hitting bottom feels like, I can attest that this film is true at heart. There is not a miraculous undoing of the past. That's just not how life works. And, that's not how you move forward. If you get this message, you will love this movie.

I was really excited when this ended up being the Monday mystery movie. I had been looking forward to it, I didn't expect it to be great, just wanted it to be fun and it is.

It's classic Taika Waititi humor, much like Ryan Reynolds; you need to like the person to enjoy their movies because their films are simply extensions of themselves and their humor. If you're not a fan of Taika, this might not be your cup of tea.

The movie is genuinely fun and funny. Every character appears incompetent, yet many seem to have life figured out. Bad analogy, but it's akin to watching a child play something badly or a homeless man dancing in the rain, dog chasing it's tail-technically futile, but they have no worries and are having the time of their lives. There's an innocence and purity to them, and despite their shortcomings, the movie remains uplifting.

Michael Fassbender felt miscast, but considering it's based on a true story, maybe he was a perfect fit as the actual coach in real life? However, still felt the movie would've been better served if the actual team took the spotlight instead of the coach. A case where the supporting characters outshone the lead.

The 5 stages of grief bit was really funny. I kind of wish they had called "the Hollywood" the Neymar. What happened to the bleeding guy in the clinic? He was so random.

Really cool underdog story, reminiscent of sports comedies from my primary school years in the late 2000s. Like a movie Adam Sandler should've been in. While the plot is one that's been done many times, it feels refreshing touch because it's been a while since a film like this was made.

The movie emotionally kicks into high gear in the last third. The daughter's voicemails added a great emotional touch, providing depth without being too obvious until their purpose is revealed. I found myself asking "why?" a lot-pick up the phone. The movie's nothing extraordinary but it's decent.

Thomas Rongen is brought in to manage The American Samoa football team, his brief is to get the team to score a single goal in The World cup qualifiers. A team that was sitting at the bottom of the rankings list, and famously lost 31 nil to Australia.

Instantly you'll recognise that Taika Waititi is behind this film, his style is etched all over it, and as I eagerly await the second series of Our flag means death, this hits the mark.

It's not perfect, arguably it's a little slow to start, but as it develops, it just gets better and better, and by the end, I was absolutely engrossed.

Funny, moving, uplifting, it's real life given a feel good twist, a great film for the whole family to enjoy.

I recently read an article from an American website, which was discussing the fact that so many American parts were being played by Brits, here's another example of that, Michael Fassbender does such a great job as Rongen, proving he can do comedy very well.

Well worth seeing.

8/10.