Movie Review: Goal! The Dream Begins

In the history of cinema, there have been a fair number of movies made about the Beautiful Game. From Escape to Victory to Bend it Like Beckham to Ladybugs, I think I have seen them all. With the exception of Ladybugs – the pure definition of “unwatchable” – I have watched most football movies numerous times. They help pass the time during the offseason so I am always willing to give them a look even when I know ahead of time they’ll be bad.

Depending where you are on this floating sphere that we call earth, you have either had the opportunity to view Goal! The Dream Begins or you will have the chance in the very near future. Undoubtedly, you will hear quite a bit about it during the World Cup. The movie is the first in a trilogy that will certainly be hyped.

I had my first chance to see the movie last night. I was prepared for the worst, but it turned out to be a decent enough film. The storyline is rather simple. A Mexican-American living in Los Angeles is discovered by an English scout while playing for an amateur league. The scout helps the kid get a tryout with Newcastle United and since it is a trilogy you can probably predict whether the kid makes it or not.

If this movie came out when I was a 12-year-old kid I would have loved it and I probably would be cursed to be a Newcastle United fan for life.

As an adult, I found it to be entertaining in a sugary, Hollywood type way where you know what is going to happen but you still continue to watch because it is kind of fun and because it has football scenes.

The second part of the trilogy will be released in Europe in the fall. I took a look at the trailer below and must say that it doesn’t excite me too much. I think I read somewhere that the scenes for the final installment are being shot this summer at the World Cup so if you aren’t careful you might end up in one of the crowd shots.

The film I really am eager to see is Mystic Ball, which hopefully will be released to a wider audience soon. I also would strongly recommend watching the BBC documentary The Game of their Lives about the 1966 North Korea World Cup team. There also is an excellent Frontline documentary online about the Serbia-Bosnia match last year. It is both fascinating and depressing.

If you have any football movies to recommend, I’d love to hear about them. They’re always a good way to fill the time when their aren’t any actual games being played.

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