Movie Review

Soccer-themed film Next Goal Wins summons Disney-style smiles

For a person who’s made a good number of popular products, writer/director Taika Waititi can be a divisive figure. Successes like What We Do in the Shadows (both movie and TV versions), Hunt for the Wilderpeople, and Thor: Ragnarok raised his profile, but projects like Jojo Rabbit (for which he won an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay) and his over-the-top acting in movies like Free Guy have not been as well-received.

His latest, Next Goal Wins, offers both the best and worst of Waititi’s style. For decades, the American Samoan soccer team had been known as the worst in the world, never scoring a single goal and being on the wrong end of the most lopsided game in history, a 31-0 thrashing by the Australian team. In an effort to change their luck, they bring in Dutch-American coach Thomas Rongen (Michael Fassbender).

Rongen takes one look at the team, which is full of misfits and unathletic people, and deems them a lost cause right away. But Tavita (Oscar Kightley), head of the local football federation, convinces him to keep trying, and the team slowly starts to gel thanks to the leadership of transgender player Jaiyah (Kaimana) and the recruitment of better players who had long given up on being part of the team.

Waititi and co-writer Iain Morris make the story into a slightly elevated version of a Disney film like Cool Runnings. Almost every American Samoan character in the film has some kind of funny quirk, but showing their goofy foibles never comes off as mean-spirited. The jokes come fast and furious from minute one of the film (starting with an introduction by a priest played by Waititi himself), so a viewer’s tolerance for Waititi’s brand of humor will dictate how much they enjoy it or not.

The film does have some attempts at being semi-serious. Rongen's life appears to be in turmoil, having to watch ex-wife Gail (Elisabeth Moss) move on with a new beau, Alex (Will Arnett). Jaiyah being a male transitioning into a female is treated as something to be respected, with only slight pushback from Rongen. And Waititi, being off Maori descent, knows how to present American Samoan customs without coming across as condescending or exploitative.

On the sports side of things, the action scenes are not that believable, but since the team is supposed to be awful, that actually plays in the film’s favor. Comedy rules the day, so whether it’s the goalkeeper not having a clue what to do or the team stumbling through drills, it’s all part of establishing them as a group that has no chance of succeeding. That, of course, sets us up for catharsis for when they actually do.

Fassbender (who just starred in the polar opposite film, The Killer) is an odd choice for the lead role. Even though he eventually gels with the rest of the cast, he still feels out of place. The actors in the American Samoan roles are almost all better than expected, led by Kaimana, Kightley, and David Fane.

Photo by Hilary Bronwyn Gayle / courtesy of Searchlight Pictures

Michael Fassbender and cast of Next Goal Wins.

A long-gestating film (principal photography actually ended in January 2020), Next Goal Wins is light and fluffy on the surface, with a few emotional punches thrown in. It won’t be confused with Waititi’s best films, but it’s a perfectly serviceable comedy if you’re willing to accept the jokes it has to offer.

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Next Goal Wins opens in theaters on November 17.

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Movie Review

Great acting and directing drive The Christophers to artistic heights

Photo by Claudette Barius

Michaela Coel and Ian McKellen in The Christophers.

Director Steven Soderbergh is one of those filmmakers who — aside from the Ocean’s series — never seems to make the same kind of movie twice. He is somehow able to adapt his abilities to all sorts of different stories, making each of them as compelling as any other. His latest masterclass is in the London-set film, The Christophers.

Lori Butler (Michaela Coel), who restores art for a living, is approached by brother and sister Sallie and Barnaby Sklar (Jessica Gunning and James Corden) with a scheme. They want her to become the new assistant for their aging father, Julian (Ian McKellen), a famous artist known for a series called “The Christophers,” in order to gain access to unfinished paintings from the series and complete them herself.

Lori accepts the deal despite having some uneasy feelings about Julian, with whom she had a bad interaction years ago. Julian is just as wary, both because he knows of his children’s interest in the unfinished works, and because he would prefer to be left in peace. Although the trepidation on both sides continues for the bulk of the story, a grudging respect arises between two artists who know skill when they see it.

Directed by Soderbergh and written by Ed Solomon, who last collaborated on No Sudden Move, the film is astonishing in its ability to be compelling with such a small story. Much of the film is spent inside Julian’s multi-story home as Julian and Lori have low-level confrontations about a variety of things, including the meaning of his art, her abilities, the fate of the remaining “Christophers,” and more. Each conversation brings out more detail about their worldviews and their thoughts about their lot in life.

Much of the success of the film lies in the performances of McKellen and Coel. The 86-year-old McKellen has not lost his ability to astonish with the spoken word, and the monologues he delivers are engrossing even when they’re about mundane things. Coel, best known for the 2020 HBO show I May Destroy You, is a great foil for McKellen, never backing down from his challenges and giving her own unique takes on her lines.

While the film can be enjoyable for non-art lovers, those who appreciate the vagaries of the art world will have a lot to chew on. Soderbergh and Solomon debate a lot of aspects of art, including whether it’s possible to separate the art from the person making it, why some art is valued more than others, the ethics of forgery, and more. Because the film is about a fictional artist, it gives the filmmakers a bit more freedom in their criticisms.

Aside from McKellen and Coel, Gunning (Baby Reindeer) and Corden are the only other two people who get significant screen time in the film. Both of them are, let’s say, acquired tastes, and each gives an elevated performance that matches the energy of their respective characters. Tilly Botsford makes a nice impression in a small role as Julian’s masseuse.

Soderbergh’s last three films — Presence, Black Bag, and now The Christophers — have nothing in common other than the expert filmmaker helming all of them. When you can make a ghost story, a spy film, and a small film about artists equally interesting, you know you’re doing something right.

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The Christophers is now playing in theaters.

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