It’s a quirky feel-good comedy with loads of great performances.

Naysayers will tell you that you can’t enjoy nice movies for what they are, that you need fast paced action and time jumps and all the things that make movies today, all to hide what is missing from most of nowadays flicks: heart.

Honestly, Taika does it best when he tells these small stories. Bravo, 7.5.

Even though I can still relate to Taika Waititi's humor, it has lost some of its appeal. After all, the jokes aren't really that varied. In "Next Goal Wins", the humor is squeezed into a rather generic sports film formula. The characters work quite well overall, but they did not elicit strong emotional responses from me. The predictable emotional climax, in particular, left me rather cold. Nevertheless, I didn't regret going to the movies; for fans of the director, it's still an enjoyable experience.

I can't imagine what kind of dirt Taika must have on Fassbender... there's literally no other explanation for him taking this role

Like the word 'good': it means well but doesn't go hard enough.

This underdog sports flick about soccer qualifications in American Samoa feels like a remake of Cool Runnings. Waititi gives the film charm and a couple laugh-out-loud moments, but if the movie were a soccer team it wouldn't get past the group stage.

The movie does, however, make me want to watch the 2014 documentary about the American Samoan team, also called 'Next Goal Wins '.

The best part of this film, though, is absolutely the focus on Jaiyah Saelua, a faʻafafine (Polynesian term for a person of a third gender) who was the first non-binary and trans woman athlete to compete in a FIFA World Cup qualifier. She is played by Kaimana, a Samoan faʻafafine who makes me wish I were years younger so I could dream of taking her to dinner. :heart_eyes:

First half of the movie was honestly a snooze fest. The comedy didn't land at all, and you can thank all the trailers for that, but I was surprisingly impressed with the remainder of the film. It got a few chuckles out of me and I did like the progression of Coach Rongen, so all in all it was a decent movie.

That being said I hated the intro, it reminded me way too much of Thor: Love and Thunder and I despise that movie with a passion.

Typical Waititi buffoonery. And of course can't make a movie nowadays without a leading trans character and his freaking struggles.

Doesn't come close to Jojo rabbit, what we do in the shadows, or ragnarok, but it is an enjoyable movie.

Plenty of humour, followed with little moments of heart but unfortunately that only did so much and wasn’t enough. It’s fine so I definitely recommend it.

Michael Fassbender needs a new agent, he deserves so much better.

Next Goal Wins is fine. It has a little comedy and a little heart. But not enough of either to be great.

Even though this was about an American Samoa team... It reminded me of the island life in certain parts of Hawaii when I lived there! I enjoyed watching this one, and some may not get why. Also surprised to see some of the actors in here like Elisabeth Moss because I don't want to see her again until A Handmaid's tale is back!!! Lol

I don't get why people compare it with what we do in the shadows and jojo rabit and negative things. This is a football movie (please don't call it Soccer) and an inspiration one about some sort of true story. "I have a particular set of skills" that line got me!
Super entertaining, emotional, funny at many points, it is a fine movie to watch and feel happy. It delivers well.