Courtesy of TIFF
It’s nothing but net for comedy sensation Taika Waititi’s new sports history movie Next Goal Wins: behind the net, around the net, hitting the pole, you name it.
Like the film’s featured American Samoan soccer team, not every kick finds the goal it this scattershot and sensitive film, but once the team starts scoring you can’t help but cheer. Next Goal Wins falls short of the edge and high stakes seen in Waititi’s superior comedies, but it’s a worthy match when it comes to heart, engagement and joy.
If you’ve never heard of just how bad American Samoa’s soccer is, they once lost 31-0 in international soccer, still the worst lost in the game’s recorded history to this day. That’s the launchpad for the true story when Dutch coach Thomas Rongen (an equally stoic and goofy Michael Fassbender) came in 2011 to whip the team into shape.
This sporty retelling is humorous and joyous, though while many in the audience were laughing, I often wasn’t joining them. I personally was often more amused rather than audibly laughing. Still, sports jokes and sharp wit abound, including a short but sweet poke at popular soccer series Ted Lasso. Also very funny are Fassbender’s Rongen flailing in pep talks - he’s the worst motivational speaker of any sports movie I've ever seen.
The story is missing the creative edge and suspense of Waititi’s stronger films like What We Do in the Shadows, Thor: Ragnarok and 2019’s Jojo Rabbit, Waititi’s last TIFF appearance that eventually won TIFF’s people’s choice award and an Oscar.
Without spoiling the big game, it’s fairly predictable how the story will end by the second half. But surprisingly, it turns out that predictability matters less when the morals and their delivery by the cast is so strong.
Oscar Kightley as team manager Tavita, for example, is giving one of the most earning, compelling performances from any film at the festival this year. He steals every scene he’s in as the funniest and most grounded member of the excellent cast, best summarized by his advice to Thomas: “You might lose. But you don’t have to lose alone.”
What makes Next Goal Wins entertaining is how damn likeable the cast is. All the players and coaches are a great deal of fun to spend time with. And the end comes with an admirable moral that sport maybe isn’t about winning - maybe instead it’s about honesty and presence.
While that makes for a fun night out, it also leaves the audience craving significantly more screen time from the individual players. Other than the emerging leader Jaiyah (an outstanding performance from Kaimana), few members of the actual team get more than thirty seconds where we get to learn about their personal goals and stakes.
This really gets highlighter in one locker room scene where the players get invited to share their own stories, only to be immediately cut off by a referee and their sharing time promptly abandoned.
Even with a few missed penalty kicks, that one goal they’re chasing eventually finds the net, and when it does, it’s so, so sweet.
Next Goal Wins
7 out of 10
PG, 1hr 43mins. Sports Comedy.
Co-Written and Directed by Taika Waititi.
Starring Michael Fassbender, Oscar Kightley, Kaimana, David Fane, Ali Latukefu, Will Arnett and Elisabeth Moss.
Opens in theatres everywhere (including Oakville) on Friday, Nov. 17. Also plays TIFF again on Sept. 12 and 14, with tickets available here.
