Movie critic Bruce Miller says "Next Goal Wins" is largely a matter of how you define 鈥渨inning.鈥 Unfortunately, the story is so scattered it鈥檚 hard to find the momentum.
Try to remember the name of Michael Fassbender鈥檚 last film.
It鈥檚 鈥淣ext Goal Wins鈥 but it鈥檚 about as memorable as the words combined to form the title.
That鈥檚 probably because Fassbender is miscast as Thomas Rongen, a soccer coach whose Bobby Knight behavior has forced him to look elsewhere for work. He takes a job in American Samoa and realizes the team has lost its will. He has three weeks to get the players primed for a win.
Naturally, it seems impossible.
Because Taika Waititi is directing (and co-wrote) this, you鈥檇 think differently. Instead, it鈥檚 unhinged and filled with the kind of lax behavior most can鈥檛 embrace.
Before he can even assemble the team, Rongen must find it. Players are all over the place, unsure they want to suffer another defeat. They also have a different mindset regarding play and teach more than they learn.
Michael Fassbender plays a coach in "Next Goal Wins."聽
Hilary Bronwyn Gayle/Searchlight
Because we know where this is headed (name one soccer film that isn鈥檛 plotted like this), much of 鈥淣ext Goal Wins鈥 is spent exploring the territory, meeting the locals and trying to figure out what caused Rongen to be so angry.
While Fassbender is almost swallowed up by his players (he鈥檚 awfully slight to be in this kind of role), he does well one-on-one. As he confronts players about their participation, we get to know them 鈥 and that鈥檚 where the real film should have been pitched.
The players are interesting, different and highly watchable. Waititi, however, hits and runs. His best story comes from a transgender athlete who has plenty to say about the game. We get dribs and drabs, but not enough to satisfy a film this needy.
As Jaiyah Saelua, the first trans athlete to play in a World Cup qualifying match, Kaimana is wonderful. You want to hear more 鈥 and learn what fueled so much of the character鈥檚 life. She gets moments (at one crucial point in particular) and always grabs focus. Even though Fassbender is barking orders, Kaimana stands out.
When we get to the game, flashbacks to other, better films emerge. An account of the last goal is handled in a great Waititi way 鈥 but it鈥檚 a little too late to begin flexing those comic muscles. Naturally, there's actual footage of the real coach and a bit of an update.
鈥淣ext Goal Wins," however, needed a better set-up. This goes offside a little too often.
Movies in a minute with film critic Bruce Miller
Movies in a Minute: "A Minecraft Movie"
Movies in a Minute: "Death of a Unicorn"
Movies in a Minute: "Snow White"
Movies in a Minute: "Novocaine"
Movies in a Minute: "Mickey 17"
Movies in a Minute: "Flow"
Movies in a Minute: "Last Breath"
Movies in a Minute: "Captain America Brave New World"
Movies in a Minute: "Heart Eyes"
Movies in a Minute: "Flight Risk"
Movies in a Minute: This Oscar season, musicals are "pop u lar!"
Movies in a Minute: "Wolf Man"
Movies in a Minute: "Better Man"
Movies in a Minute: "Babygirl"
Movies in a Minute: "The Brutalist"
Movies in a Minute: "Nosferatu"
Movies in a Minute: "A Complete Unknown"
Movies in a Minute: "Nickel Boys"
Movies in a Minute: "Moana 2"
Movies in a Minute: "We Live in Time"
Movies in a Minute: "Smile 2"
Movies in a Minute: "Saturday Night"
Movies in a Minute: "Joker: Folie `a Deux"
Movies in a Minute: "Megalopolis"
Movies in a Minute: "Transformers One"
Movies in a Minute: "Speak No Evil"
Movies in a Minute: "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice"
Movies in a Minute: "Reagan"
Movies in a Minute: "Blink Twice"
Movies in a Minute "Alien: Romulus"
Movies in a Minute: "It Ends With Us"
Movies in a Minute: "Trap"
Movies in a Minute: "Deadpool & Wolverine"
Movies in a Minute: "Twisters"
Movies in a Minute "Maxxxine"
Movies in a Minute "Despicable Me 4"
Movies in a Minute "A Quiet Place: Day One"
Movies in a Minute: "Thelma"
Movies in a Minute: "Inside Out 2"
Movies in a Minute "Bad Boys: Ride or Die"
Movies in a Minute: "Jim Henson Idea Man鈥
Movies in a Minute: "Summer Camp"
Movies in a Minute: "The Blue Angels"
Movies in a Minute: "Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes"
Movies in a Minute: "The Fall Guy"
Movies in a Minute: "Challengers"
Movies in a Minute: "Abigail"
Movies in a Minute: "Civil War"
Movies in a Minute: "Monkey Man"
Movies in a Minute: "Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire"
Movies in a Minute: "Late Night With the Devil"
Movies in a Minute: "Snack Shack"
Movies in a Minute: "Cabrini"
聽Bruce Miller is editor of the Sioux City Journal.聽
