Of all the genres that beat the “inspired by true events” dead horse, sports movies are probably the most egregious in terms of making shit up. Taika Waititi, whose last film, Jojo Rabbit, even managed to perplex a lot of people about Nazism, approaches this true tale of the hapless American Samoa national soccer team with the notion of sending up the usual zero-to-hero sports movie trajectory, so already there’s going to be a fair amount of contrivance mixed in with the real stuff. But that notion also suggests it’s going to be funny, and as we saw with Jojo Rabbit, Waititi often has a hard time deciding what things are ripe for ridicule and what things are not. Though he trades rather freely in Pacific Islander stereotypes, he balances it with stereotypical white characters and their total lack of empathy toward non-whites, especially when money is involved. 

The soccer league under which Samoa plays wants the team to make an attempt to qualify for the FIFA World Cup 13 years after its most humiliating defeat against Australia by a score of 31-0. The organization doesn’t expect it to qualify, but it would like for Samoa to at least score a goal, which it has never done. None of the members have ever been anything other than weekend soccer players. In a last ditch effort, the league sends them the Dutch-American coach Thomas Rongen (Michael Fassbender), an alcoholic who everyone once believed was a promising star. Since the assignment was engineered by his ex-wife (Elisabeth Moss) and her cynical new boyfriend, the league president (Will Arnett), it’s easy to see why Rongen doesn’t appreciate the posting, and the friction between him and the team is thus played for uncomfortable laughs elicited by parodies of the kind of training montages sports movies incorporate as if by mandate. The sour attitudes of these white folks is compensated by the native optimism of the Samoans, represented foremost by the local federation head, Tavita (Oscar Knightley), who does his best to keep a positive attitude even in the face of Rongen’s booze-fueled abuse. If the setup has a saving grace it’s Jaiyah (Kaimana), a veteran player who, 13 years earlier, was a man and in the meantime has transitioned into a woman (or, as the Samoans see it, a “third gender”). Historically, Jaiyah was the first non-binary player to ever compete in a FIFA match, and Waititi allows the character a lot of leeway to navigate the tricky route they’ve been given to not only be accepted by the team (emotionally and rule-wise), but to help her teammates and their glum coach become better people. 

It’s a bit too much to ask, and in the end Next Goal Wins has to fall back on the cliches that prop up the sports movie genre, which means the athletes overcome their problems to work together toward some kind of triumph. No matter how much Waititi tries to take the piss, he can’t very well subvert the basic appeal of a sports movie, and thus it’s all a bit predictable, and not in a way that makes any meaningful difference.

Now playing in Tokyo at Toho Cinemas Nihonbashi (050-6868-5060), Toho Cinemas Hibiya (050-6868-5068), Toho Cinemas Shinjuku (050-6868-5063), Shibuya Cine Quinto (03-3477-5905), Toho Cinemas Roppongi Hills (050-6868-5024).

Next Goal Wins home page in Japanese

photo (c) 2023 20th Century Studios