As a soccer movie, seven stars, as a movie in general, six.
I had previously read "Hand of God" by Jimmy Burns, a book on Maradona so upon reading this, the basic storyline of the book really did come to life. I looked at the credits and there did not seem to be any reference to this book in this joint effort by both Spanish and Italian film-makers.
The movie does have a sort of aura like a made-for-TV movie and running at nearly 2 hours and I believe with the stamp of RAI, a national broadcasting company in Italy, I believe that is what it must be, but biographically, in showing us some of the main events of Maradona's life, it has some success. Those wishing for great detail will see it would not be easy to do without adding much time to it.
Those main events of course, entail his professional career and of course, his playing for the National team of Argentina, the "Albiceleste" and with the latter, the movie does take off and I indeed found it exciting, almost World Cup exciting accompanied with actual video of those games. Does one want to get in the mood for one of the biggest events in the sports world, the soccer/football World Cup? Watch this, regardless of whom your favorite team is. To the close observer too, there are elements that obviously tell us we are in Argentina, etc. To the real Maradona fan or foe, yes, there are some major omissions but overall, it is accurate. The major fan or foe will surely pursue further reading of Diego. The production at times, in my opinion might be faulty in the use of flashbacks in action scenes, some taken from the actual games of Maradona. With that said, the Stallone/Michael Caine/Pele movie "Victory" has often been applauded for its soccer scenes. Perhaps this movie could have taken a page out of how "Victory" did this.
The flashbacks do not always work effectively, too, not giving away a main point of the movie but let's say, the producers used a happening to Maradona to make it a metaphor about his life, symbolizing it in essence. I think the use of the metaphor while worthy of being included is referenced too often and overblown in significance, so there are definitely some negative aspects here but I don't find it an overwhelming concern and did someone say "cheesy", maybe a tiny bit of pop cheese can be found. Did I hear someone say "telenovela", well, I tend to expect that coming out of Latin America. For detractors of the movie, I note also those commercially plugging the movie tend to overpraise the man, so it balances out. To test the accuracy of this film and yes, I watched Maradona play in the World Cup, research what the movie presents before scoffing at it, watch or read about the games Maradona played in and the path his career took. I honestly think it puts him in a bit of a better light than what the truth says, but that is only my opinion.
I saw the movie "Babe Ruth" with John Goodman. In a way, as a sports biography, I'd say this would compare favorably. Summing it up, if you are a fan of Maradona's mastery on the field, you will definitely find this in this movie along with attention to his own self-destructive behavior and personal life. If it were a made-for-TV type of movie, it should have been a two-parter. It's not the total truth on this major sports figure but it's a start.
