Un sueño

... it is certainly lacking something.

Perhaps I was hoping for something along the lines of The Blind Side or Friday Night Lights. But then obviously more lighthearted, but this was nothing like that. It was like the makers were fans of such movies and sort of pulled an entirely invented story out of a hat. There were no real inspirational events or teams to follow perhaps? Nothing real they could mold into a movie about people their plights and situations and such... maybe even with some deeper message?

I learned they let homeless people play soccer for some reason, that was about it.

So yeah, its entertaining, but also an incredibly empty story sadly.

This is a strange movie.

The premise of a professional player helping a homeless-team in their upcoming Soccer World Cup could be an interesting one. Simple and grounded enough where character interactions and developments could make for a memorable story.. this isn't the case here. It all feels like excerpts of a "TV drama" instead, with scenes that come out of nowhere, are rushed, or undercooked. Everything with the lead's mother just goes too fast and I didn't care for! Then the cast of characters is presented and barely explored, which is fine.. but for their interactions to not develop into anything memorable or worth caring for either is a problem. The lessons learned, the arcs and emotional weight are just there to tick boxes. It all reminded me of the much better "Shaolin Soccer" film, with a similar team and problems. But that one feels better paced and is capable of cramming more story in its length to make it juicy.

Anyway, I quite liked the locations and most camerawork! But the small parts feel really small, even more so when compared to the "bigger" ones.

I can't really recommend this, as it is a product that feels like a lot of parts that don't add to something greater.

Personally, came to my attention because my country was shown (in trailers) to take part in the tournament (which is unusual to see), and was curious as to its inclusion. I'm also familiar with Park Seo-joon.. not because anything I saw in the trailers was enticing.

So maybe we're unfair with the low reviews, maybe we'd love it if we were 8? I had no idea what to expect but I couldn't wait to watch anything with PSJ and IU. Unfortunately I was let down but I still love these actors and I guess it's ok if they decide to do movies like that. The premise was cute and somehow interesting so no hard feelings. But yeah, watch it with your kids and write a review based on their opinion so we can have a more objective view.

If you like the actors and you're an adult, you should definitely watch Hwarang, Itaewon Class, Midnight Runners, She Was Pretty, and my all time favorite Fight For My Way with Park Seo Joon. And My Mister with IU. To see what they're normally capable of and suitable for.

Such a strange concept for a soccer movie - I can see putting together a rag-tag homeless team together but to recruit the bad-boy pro and talk him into a scripted team so a drama can be made out of it? What caught my attention in the first place to watch this movie was Park Seo-joon and would have loved to see him in a more active role on the field (no fault of his own - it is the scripting or writer) instead of taking a sideline tole the whole time as a coach of the drama team. Maybe he could have jumped in instead of the Brazilians to save the day since alot of rules were being broken anyway. Park See-joon did a great job with the role he was given and as always, a favorite in this movie too.

This is an aggressively average movie. It packs in all the usual clichés - the team sucks, a few players have some talent that isn't used (yet), the coach doesn't want to be there and gives up and then returns with an inspirational speech etc. - which is fine. Clichés are clichés for a reason: they work. But you have to DO something with them. You can't just plonk them in the script and think that's it. The fact that the team sucks is supposed to be funny - it isn't. When some players finally realise their potential it's supposed to be triumphant - it isn't.

The only thing that halfway works is the story arc of the coach and that has more to do with the actor's charisma than with the writing. Park Seo-Joon gets very little to work with, but he's good. As is Lee Ji-Eun. Their rivalry provides some much needed humour. Everything else is bland, even though the characters should be compelling. They're all down on their luck and they've all been through things, but they're written in such a way that it's hard to feel anything for them all.

I wouldn't recommend this to anyone, but hardcore fans of the two leads. If you want to watch a sports movie, there are loads of other, way better ones.