Goal! (3 out of 4)
Starring Kuno Becker and Alessandro Nivola Directed by Danny Cannon
By Angela Baldassarre
Originally Published: 2006-05-14
I love a good soccer movie, but Danny Cannon's Goal! is so implausible and saccharine-filled, that I could feel a cavity coming on just watching it. There are, however, some good sports sequences and fans of the sport will recognize some celebrities who make cameos.
As a child living in Mexico Santiago (Kuno Becker) loved soccer, but he soon had to abandon the sport when he and his family crossed the U.S. border as illegals. Though he's now working in a Chinese restaurant, he still spends his free time playing despite his father's claims that it's a waste of time. One day scout Glen Foy (Stephen Dillane) notices him and convinces Newcastle United manager Erik Dornheim (Marcel Iures) to give him a tryout when the kid comes to the U.K. So Santiago begins saving his money for an air ticket, but dad steals the dough to buy a pick-up truck. Enter grandma who gives the boy the money to pursue his dreams and land on Glen Foy's doorstep unannounced. As he trains in the team, Santiago is bullied by some players and liked by others, and even tries his hand at romance with the local nurse (Anna Friel). But when his asthma inhaler (yep, that too) is purposely trampled, he's kicked off the team. And as he's about to go home with the tail between his legs, lo and behold a guardian angel arrives in wealthy player Gavin (Alessandro Nivola) who inexplicably takes him under his wing and helps him become famous. Geez.
Goal! is mostly American values pitted against British practices, and in that it's pretentious, tired and obvious. That's a shame because Becker is actually quite good, as are the rest of the cast. Even more impressive are the soccer sequences and its big-name players David Beckham, Alan Shearer, Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldinho and Sven-Goran Eriksson.
On a side note, Michael Winterbottom was originally hired to direct the film which explains the presence of thesps Dillane and Nivola. Who knows what kind of film he would've made.
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