Next Goal Wins (2023) Review!!

Synopsis – The story of the infamously terrible American Samoa soccer team, known for a brutal 2001 FIFA match they lost 31-0.

My Take – Sports dramas are a surefire way to please a crowd and led by an actor with well proven comedic chops, the film often results in a very likable underdog story. At first glance, this latest sports comedy is reminiscent of the ones that used to frequently release in the late 2000s.

But in the hands of a filmmaker like Taika Waiti, known for his crowd-pleasing comedies where lovable misfit characters endure hardships with a quirky sense of humor, it results in a complicated mess of fun, surprising heart, and inspiration.

Adapted from the 2014 documentary of the same name about minnow football team American Samoa and their Dutch-American coach Thomas Rongen’s quixotic quest to qualify for the 2014 FIFA World Cup a decade after their infamous 31-0 defeat against Australia, this one is the ultimate underdog story, and exactly the kind of quirky material that director Waititi has always gravitated towards, too: sweet, dry comedy that celebrates, and is defined by, Polynesian culture.

Yes, it might not reach the heights of director Waititi’s previous successes (like Hunt for the Wilderpeople, What We Do in the Shadows, Jojo Rabbit, Thor: Ragnarok) and isn’t the best at what it does, but thanks to its lovable cast of characters, it sure makes for an earnest effort, and has a relaxed delightful feeling about it that makes the film go down easy overall.

The story follows Thomas Rongen (Michael Fassbender), a disgraced hot-headed, hard drinking Dutch-American soccer coach, who is foisted upon him by his higher ranking ex-wife, Gail (Elisabeth Moss), and his boss Alex (Will Arnett), to take up the job of coaching the American Samoa national soccer team as his last chance with the American soccer federation.

Though he initially puts up minimum effort to keep from getting fired, after all American Samoa was the lowest ranked nation in all of International Football and made headlines around the world for a 31 – 0 defeat to Australia some decades previously, that is, until he starts seeing potential in the players and starts investing more time into ensuring that the team’s manager (Oscar Knightley) achieves his low-bar of a dream: getting the country’s first goal in international competition.

The American Samoa makes for a ripe setting. Its small-town, personified: an island nation with a blanket 20mph speed limit and a community so insular that everyone has second or third jobs. Some of the film’s best moments come when director Waititi and co-writer Iain Morris’ script affectionately mocks its environment, especially when football admin Tavita (Oscar Kightley) is on screen.

The goofy training sequences throughout the first half of the film make it clear that the American Samoan team is just not good. This is a team that is still reeling from the legacy of a humiliating, albeit historic, 31–0 loss to Australia in 2001 — the largest-ever defeat in an international soccer match. Despite their lack of success, though, the Samoan team is still easy to root for; they’re all likeable characters, imbibed with director Waititi’s quirky and rather dry sense of humor.

Though it is never a miss that the script had an opportunity to really examine the demand of winning at all costs versus the rewards of merely having fun and having a passion for sports but it abandons any lessons in a flurry of team-building montages.

Yet the film is most winning in the way it handles the team’s star player, Jaiyah Saelua, who became the first non-binary player to compete in a men’s FIFA qualifier. Played with real tenderness and joy by nonbinary actor Kaimana, the role and the way her teammates and the coach relate to her is genuine and touching.

Sadly, a redemptive arc for the goalie (Uli Latukefu) who blew that historic 31-nil loss, an overzealous cop Rambo (Semu Filipo) with a heck of a strike, the deeply felt religious beliefs and practices of all the players getting in the way, feel like they’ve been drastically cut down in a bid to keep things moving as quickly as possible. Thomas also struggles with rampant alcoholic tendencies and obvious trauma that will be explained by the end, but all of that, including the character’s failed marriage is blunted and barely built. Sure, the film is a mess from a technical perspective, but it’s still a likable film overall.

There’s still enough heart and humor to keep everything afloat, which is a testament to Waititi’s talents as a wit and dramatist. Even though the filmmaker’s process is a lot more scattershot and unwieldy this time out, as he understands what the film needed to succeed on the most basic of levels. It might be hard to take it seriously as a sports drama, but as a lighthearted comedy with a few serious elements and light touches of social commentary, it works fine enough.

Performance wise, Michael Fassbender proves he’s a really talented comedic actor purely because he plays everything completely straight, which works wonders for all the comedy. Oscar Kightley with his endless optimism wins you over instantly and the film wisely knows to keep him around for as much as possible.

In small roles, Elisabeth Moss, Will Arnett, Rhys Darby, Angus Sampson, Rachel House and Luke Hemsworth leave a small act, however, David Fane, Kaimana, Lehi Falepapalangi, Uli Latukefu, Semu Filipo and the rest of the team mates are the real stars of the story. On the whole, ‘Next Goal Wins’ is a typical breezy and entertaining sports flick from the always quirky Taika Waiti.