Next Goal Wins

An enjoyable feel-good sports film by Taika Waititi with likeable characters and a very good Michael Fassbender. Story-wise, it's a stale tale, but it doesn't matter that much as the film flows on a pleasantly positive mood throughout. Don't expect fits of laughter though, but it held my attention very well. 70%. (20.02.2024)

How about Taika Waititi's new movie, I was immediately alert. In addition, he chose a football theme here, so there was no way to miss it. Although the film is often compared to Cool Runnings, I must say that Michael Fassbender is not John Candy. He simply won't be a genre legend. Still, I must admit that I laughed more than enough here. It has exactly the director's comedic handwriting, a nice setting, and a plot exactly typical of a similarly toned comedy. You just want to watch something like this to relax beautifully. I think I would eagerly handle a series as well and be with all those characters more often. Thanks to this film, the inhabitants of American Samoa have grown close to my heart. (13.03.2024)

Such nice people. Such a nice movie. I last played football in high school and I'm about as good a player as Michael Fassbender, but still, Taika Waititi's laid-back comedy worked wonders for me. The bizarre episodes of exploring American Samoa and the training montages are topped, unsurprisingly, by the first game. Cool Runnings but with football. But the best and strongest thing Next Goal Wins is not the comedy. At the half-time speech, the film switches gears for a moment and, thanks to Fassbender's strong performance, also hits you incredibly hard; it brings out the darkness and unexpected cruelty of the world. The only way to combat this is by enjoying life and trying to have fun, not by spinning in a spiral of self-destruction. I think that's what Waititi meant. (17.02.2024)