Next Goal Wins, 2023.
Directed by Taika Waititi.
Starring Michael Fassbender, Oscar Kightley, Kaimana, David Fane, Rachel House, Beulah Koale, Will Arnett, Elisabeth Moss, Uli Latukefu, Chris Alosio, Semu Filipo, Ioane Goodhue, Lehi Makisi Falepapalangi, Hio Pelesasa, Taika Waititi, Frankie Adams, Rhys Darby, Angus Sampson, Sisa Grey, Luke Hemsworth, Russell Satele, and Kaitlyn Dever.
SYNOPSIS:
The story of the infamously terrible American Samoa soccer team, known for a brutal 2001 FIFA match they lost 31-0.
Writer/Taika Waititi is a witty person with a signature snarky style of humor. There is no question about that. However, the issue with his latest comedy (and breakaway from making Thor movies while also having successfully dabbled in television), Next Goal Wins (co-written alongside Iain Morris and based on actual events surrounding a horrendous American Samoa national soccer team), is that the story being told doesn’t necessarily benefit from his comedic approach. If anything, most of the jokes here are annoying, so the third-act transition into more familiar crowd-pleasing sports big-game drama territory is a slight improvement, even though it shouldn’t be.
Without getting into the debate over whether Taika Waititi has become so smug and egotistical that it is killing off the charm of his films (especially his independent New Zealand-based comedies such as Hunt for the Wilderpeople), it must be said that he opens the film front and center on the screen talking to the audience as an American Samoa minister, telling a terrible joke that this is a “story of woe” before emphasizing that he doesn’t mean “woe but whoa.” In reality, the film mostly elicits groans.
The screenplay is also under the impression that cutely pointing out white savior troops to laugh at them absolves this story from falling into and embracing some of those same tropes. In the early 2000s, the American Samoa national soccer team, which had never scored a goal, was embarrassed by Australia in a World Cup qualifying game that saw them defeated 31-0. 10 years have passed, and the team still hasn’t scored a goal. The team’s owner, Tavita (Oscar Kightley, giving a hilarious performance of unwavering optimism within the parameters of the questionable material he is given to work with), has caved into thinking outside the box and hiring disgraced American coach Thomas Rongen (Michael Fassbender), who only accepts the job because it’s his only option to keep working.
A significant misstep here is that, while several teammates land small amusing moments, the narrative’s focus seems to be on juxtaposing the grace American Samoa maintains even when getting blown out and Thomas’ anger issues clouding his inability to see anything beyond winning. He is also struggling to get over a divorce from his wife Gail (Elisabeth Moss) and is estranged from his daughter, who plays soccer, but realizes there is also more to life. With that in mind, much of the strict practice sessions come with the clichés of Thomas learning the ways of these people, their religion, and their island. In other words, the wrong character is centered.
It would also be unfair to say that the film doesn’t care about these players’ lives but to say that their dramatic arcs are handled delicately would be a severe overstatement. Among the players is transitioning male-to-female Jaiyah (a standout emotional performance from Kaimana), still meeting the rules and regulations to play for this all-male team, although eventually will be unable to play. In the early going, Taika Waititi is interested in telling a standard story about a white man’s bigotry and coming to accept something he doesn’t understand, considering she is one of the best players on the team, going as far as depicting some cruel incidents involving deadnaming.
It is not my place to say whether Next Goal Wins is offensive or not, but I do see where depicting harsh bigotry can sometimes feel crucial to also highlighting someone’s growth as a human being. The problem is that a few scenes later, Jaiyah is seen apologizing to Thomas for throwing him to the ground after his deadnaming, which is misguided and a lingering source of infuriating throughout the rest of the film.
Taika Waititi takes the cheapest route imaginable to resolve this conflict: an unearned feel-good montage of Thomas and Jaiyah scouting the rest of the island for other players. Again, it’s worth mentioning that these characters are funny, ranging from a traffic cop strictly enforcing the comically slow speed limit (Semu Filipo) and Nicky Salapu (Uli Latukefu), the goalie of the previously mentioned Australia matchup massacre, who no longer plays and has resigned himself to re-creating that game on Xbox where he gets his revenge.
Logically, Taika Waititi would want to slap his comedic DNA over this true story, but the humor mixed with the dramatic fumbles creates an identity crisis. The jokes are also not particularly funny unless they are directly involved with soccer; running gags pretending this white coach is American Samoa’s Neo from The Matrix or listening to someone recap a game for a character who passed out from a heat stroke feel uninspired and lazy.
There is some warm happiness in watching the team inevitably put together a solid performance on the field. Still, by that point, Next Goal Wins has given up being a Taika Waititi film in favor of somewhat working more effectively as a generic crowd-pleasing underdog flick. However, it is still one that spends far too much time centering its white protagonist’s problems and troubles. There is a stronger movie to make from Jaiyah or any other teammate’s perspective, and probably a funnier one.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★
Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Critics Choice Association. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check here for new reviews, follow my Twitter or Letterboxd, or email me at MetalGearSolid719@gmail.com
