Next Goal Wins

4 outta 5

Next Goal Wins is funny, absurd, quippy and, in places, unexpectedly heartfelt. It comes in a well-worn sports movie framework as a terrible team gets a new coach and becomes less terrible so it doesn’t exactly redfine the genre. But it is solid, and the cast of eccentric characters keep things lively, and the lead performance is amusingly bitter. Sure, the amusingly bitter coach of lovable losers has been done many, many times before but it is a dependable character template. Also, there are some interesting culture clash moments and some fun training montages that keep things lively.

The soccer team of the small island of American Samoa is widely regarded as the worst soccer team in history, having lost 31-0 in a World Cup qualifying match. Years later, they still aren’t any good, having not ever scored a goal. The head of the American Samoa soccer association, Tavita (Oscar Kightley), realizes that a change in coach is needed, and, after being berated by his wife, Ruth (Rachel House), he decides to search for a coach off island. As fate would have it, a disgraced and extremely angry soccer coach, Thomas (Michael Fassbender), has been fired from his job. His ex-wife and soccer administrator, Gail (Elizabeth Moss) has signed up Thomas for the job to get him out of his rut. And her new beau and other prominent soccer administrator, Alex (Will Arnett) tells Thomas this is his last chance. Arriving at the island, Thomas finds a crew of misfits, like Nicky (Uli Latukefu) the disgraced goalie who let in 31 goals, Ace (David Fane), the former coach turned assistant, and Jaiyah (Kaimana), a transgender athlete. But even though Thomas is continually boozing on the sidelines, he tries to whip this team into shape. But they continue to remain bad and must face off in a World Cup Qualifying match in just four weeks.

Fassbender as Thomas is hilariously bitter as the often-intoxicated new coach. He is in a standard sports movie role, a has-been coaching a gaggle of losers, but the angry energy Fassbender puts in is hilarious. He almost brings an intensity on the level of his other well-known character, Magneto, with lots of intense speeches. And the fact that the team keeps collapsing even under his training makes it even funnier. The montages when he’s attempting to train the crew are zippy, as he has them jump over himself and Tavita and he doesn’t miss a beat while telling a rather large individual to go around. And one bit has him walking with his eyes closed as the team tosses soccer balls across him and he eventually gets beaned on the head and hollers “Trust is broken!” He even boozes his way driving home, breaking the island speed limit of 25 mph, which leads to a chance encounter with a cop who becomes a great kicker.

Thomas’s arrival at the island is also amusingly absurd as when he walks off the plane, he is immediately interviewed by a local TV show about who just stepped off the plane, and Thomas does the Liam Neeson “Special set of skills” monologue from Taken to explain why he is there. There is tension between Thomas and his ex-wife, and some saved voicemail messages from his unseen daughter, and the eventual reveal of what happened is very dramatic. Later in the Qualifying match, Thomas turns a corner with his outlook and says somewhat happily the team should enjoy themselves. This character arc isn’t anything stunningly new in a sports film, but Fassbender pulls it off admirably, managing to have a funny frustrated tone with some depth showing through.

The supporting characters all get moments to shine. Moss isn’t in the movie a lot, but her scenes are an effective way to show the hardship Thomas has gone through, as she seems patiently understanding about his plight. Arnett as the soccer admin is the sleazy type he does so well as his Alex tends to explain things in terms about his dead childhood dogs. Latukefu as the goaltender, Nicky may have let in 31 goals but, as another character rightfully points out, he still stopped 60, but he is still haunted by that game. Kightley as the head of American Samoa’s soccer team has a bunch of great moments as he explains the culture to Thomas and one of the funniest bits is when he sends his wife Ruth for some faux mystical mumbo-jumbo to entice Thomas to stay. Fane as the former coach turned assistant is great at acting befuddled. One of the more affecting performances is Kaimana as the transgender athlete, and the team views her as simply a member of the squad, something Thomas takes a moment to get on board with, but when they resolve their issues, it is very heartwarming.

Director Tika Waititi has made more profound and funnier movies, Hunt for the Wilderpeople is fantastic or the emotional turns of JoJo Rabbit or the constant stream of hilariousness of Thor: Ragnarok. But Next Goal Wins works very well as just a gaggle of oddball characters with Waititi’s distinctive style. It doesn’t redefine the sports movie mold but fits nicely into a reliable genre.