Next Goal Wins

This review may contain spoilers!

 

Next Goal Wins is a biopic about the American Samoa football team, their record-breaking loss in 2001 and their comeback under the guidance of Thomas Rongen. Beyond Rongen, we also see the return to the sport for American Samoa goalkeeper Nicky Salapu; and the story behind the trans athlete, Jaiyah Saelua, who went on to become a FIFA ambassador for equality and LGBT athletes.

 

Something I will always love about a Taika Waititi film is that the theme always points the audience to joy. There is always this unshakeable sensation of optimism, hope or positivity for either our characters or the future. What I admire most Next Goal Wins is that this message of finding happiness has such purpose to it. Thomas Rongen, our protagonist and also outsider to the American Samoa way of life, is a person who is down on his luck and seriously struggling to contain his anger. Watching Rongen improve his own outlook on life by connecting with his new team but also life on the island is quite a meaningful story to see play out. In so many sport biopics where every sacrifice has to be made in order to gain success it is nice for the message to be about finding joy, specifically finding joy within yourself. I also think that by crafting joy as being linked to the culture of American Samoa there was a really beautiful sort of welcome to this island and the values fostered here. Another narrative moment I really liked was one that took a long time to mature, frankly after the fumble in the first act I wasn't sure we'd get there. The way Jaiyah Saelua is spotlighted as a woman who cements this team and inspires them was wonderful to see develop. I thought the way the film took a pause to explain fa'afafine and affirm America Samoa's (and many other Pasifika cultures') worldview of genderqueer as a very important one that audiences could learn a lot from.

 

The editing for this film set a decent pace, it never felt overly slow and played to time nicely. The soundtrack for the feature gets right to the spirit of the feature, and I loved the Pasifika artists that were included as well as the traditional songs sung throughout.

Kaimana, who played Jaiyah, does some tremendous heavy lifting in terms of the dramatic storyline; the way Kaimana represents a young fa'afafine and both the challenges and joy that comes with this is impressive. David Fane, who played Ace, is a very quiet figure in his scenes but hits with some of the best comedy in the film; Fane's portrayal of this meek assistant coach is one of the genuine joys of the film. Will Arnett, who played Alex Magnussen, makes for a fantastic light antagonist for this comedic film; Arnett's snide wit and arrogant role crafts a figure you will love to hate. Uli Latukefu, who played Nicky Salapu, isn't a performance that steals the show but is one with charisma to spare nonetheless; Latufeku plays a quietly humble yet bold figure who fits the sport biopic narrative. Semu Filipo, who played Rambo, was such a surprise comedic role that really blew me away; Filipu is naturally funny and his intro scene is one of the best in the film. Rhys Darby, who played Rhys Marlin, is such a tried and true comedic performer that works nicely here; Darby keeps the humour light and grounded in a way that's plain fun.

 

However, the best performance came from Michael Fassbender, who played Thomas Rongen. There was never anything close when it came to Fassbender and the rest of the cast; and I say that with a lot of respect to some performances that really stood out in this film. Fassbender has always been a talent and in a movie where it is very easy to slip into a light comedy role Fassbender does the bulk heavy lifting to lend a dramatic edge. We get to see a desperate and depressed Thomas in the beginning, a man who seems lost and adrift and isn't sure of his life direction anymore. Fassbender really gets a kick out of playing the character's anger and disappointment over his team, their ability and where he now resides at first. Yet what I loved is the journey Fassbender takes this character on, a healing cycle that sees Thomas come to really bond with others and start to find his happiness once again. But that midgame locker room scene where Fassbender unpacks his the death of his character's daughter? That hit home in every way that counted.

Next Goal Wins opens by informing us that this is a movie about real events and people but that there will be embellishments. Which is fine, biopics have embellishments all the time. Yet this movie does things in a particularly poor manner when you really can't tell where the fictitious elements end. This movie sacrifices every real possible moment it has in order to play up a joke or a dramatic storyline that never existed. Taika Waititi is known for bragging about not really doing a lot of research before acting a role or writing a script; and this has sometimes worked out very well for him in projects like Our Flag Means Death or my favourite: Jojo Rabbit. But here the script feels egregiously lazy, catering to a nice if not simplistic theme and barely developing the main storylines to be the captivating plot points they otherwise could be. Rongen finding joy is a good arc but his character is never really fleshed out too much beyond this point, America Samoa and the team are treated as a comedy ensemble who are too often the butt of Waititi's jokes, FIFA considering shutting down the team is a plotline that barely knows to be present and the church angle is so poorly explored it really didn't need to be added in the first place. I also really took issue with Waititi crafting a conflict between Jaiyah and Rongen that never existed back in the first act, especially painting Rongen as an individual who would disrespect a trans individual by deadnaming them. This really paints a harsh conflict that never existed and also reduces a competent player down to being the individual conflict the protagonist has to resolve. Next Goal Wins is a perfect capture of what Waititi tends to craft: a godd comedy, but rarely a great film.

Visually this might be Waititi's most average looking film, which is a shame because he is clearly based in a beautiful location and dealing with a subject that if often dynamically shot. This winds up looking like a biopic made with someone who has no vision for it beyond a few decent shots scattered here and there. The score for the film really struggles to find its place, there is no defining sound here that is the film's own.

Oscar Kightley, who played Tavita, is a performer that lets this film down at every turn; Kightley is that sort of comedic performer who waits for just a pause after every comedic line delivery almost expecting everyone to burst into laughter. Rachel House, who played Ruth, is a weird caricature of a Pasifika mother and wife; House has done this type of comedy for Waititi before and it feels pretty repetitive. Beulah Koale, who played Daru, is just far too serious and stoic for this film; Koale never carries the dramatic potential his character could have nor the comedic quality to fit in with the wider ensemble cast. Taika Waititi, who played American Samoa Priest, takes a pretty iffy bit he already did in hunt For The Wilderpeople and makes it a lot more unbearable; Waititi's eyesore of a role is a nice reflection on how he's quicker to chase a cheap joke than a good role or story. Elisabeth Moss, who played Gail, feels entirely lost in this film; Moss and Fassbender have barely any chemistry or more importantly sense of history with one another. Luke Hemsworth and Angus Sampson, who played Keith and Angus Bendleton respectively, are insufferable as the Australian coaching rivals in the film; the writing for this pair is lazy enough but the performances are career worsts for Hemsworth and Sampson. Kaitlyn Dever, who played Nicole, is this toneless generic entity in the film that barely feels like a character; Dever's role is small but comes with important emotional weight that she just does not deliver on.

Out of all of Waititi's works I have viewed thus far, I think this just might be my least favourite. I would give Next Goal Wins a 6/10.