Next Goal Wins (#485)

The movie I saw yesterday was very familiar.  How many films have been made in which the underdog manages to turn a bad situation into a good one.  They are typically inspired by true events.  Rudy comes to mind, as do Miracle, Rocky, Remember the Titans and even the classic Cinderella.  And many seem to happen in sport. NEXT GOAL WINS is the latest, and it is about soccer (or football in most of the world).  In a movie populated by unrecognizable (to me) actors, a unemployed professional soccer coach reluctantly accepts the job of coaching an untalented team in American Samoa.  They are so untalented that they have never scored a goal in world cup competition and lost one game by the all-time record score of 32-0.  I really don’t have to tell you more; this one fits the formula of underdog movies and has some fun and amusing segments along the way.  It was a welcome change from any of the movies I have seen over the last couple of months.  They rarely make movies like this any more.  It is light and frothy and doesn’t take itself too seriously.  It was entertaining and it’s a comedy.  That’s the best I can do. Critics were lukewarm (42% thumbs up), and there were no rankings by audiences yet.

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