One of the most difficult tasks on film
so far is to display an accurate version of the beautiful game,
Football (the real kind with the round ball).
I’ve seen a lot of
previous attempts to bring it to the big screen, being a big “Soccer”
fan - the closest so far (in my opinion) was Mean Machine with Vinnie
Jones, and given that he was an ex-pro player, it’s not real surprising
that there was some decent footage. In Danny Cannon’s latest film, Goal, the first of three films to be released this year, we finally
get a look at the closest thing to really being there at the big game.
Santiago Munez (Kuno Becker) is a Mexican immigrant living in Los
Angeles, working various menial jobs around the clock, but his true
passion is in playing Football for a local Spanish team. When he is
spotted by a former Newcastle talent scout, Glen Foy (Stephen Dillane),
he gets the opportunity of a lifetime in a tryout for the English
Premier League team, provided he can make his way to the U.K.
Santiago’s
father Herman (Tony Plana) dismisses his son’s dreams, but
when his Grandmother intervenes, the young player makes his way to St.
James, and his chance at going all the way. Meanwhile, Newcastle
has just signed one of the up and comers from the local leagues, Gavin
Harris (Alessandro Nivola), a playboy more interested in the fame than
playing the game itself, but with Santiago added to the mix, the
game could change forever.
Anyone who has followed the progress of Goal would be aware that
both the original Director (Michael Winterbottom) and star dropped out
of the film just prior to shooting, and the reigns fell to Danny Cannon
(CSI, Judge Dredd), and relative newcomer (at least in English
speaking film) Becker. So there’s an upside and a downside here –
Cannon has definitely improved as a director over the years, but even
though his U.K. heritage may suggest otherwise, he doesn’t seem to have
a firm grip on the sport as a whole, and even less of a grip on the
woeful romantic side-story.
Becker, on the other hand, does good work as
Santiago, and in particular, his time onscreen with Alessandro delivers
the highlights of the film that don’t involve game time. Speaking of
highlights, any time Nivola is on screen is when the film truly fires
up. His characterisation of fun-lovin’ Gavin Harris is spot-on, and any
fans of the game should be able to notice some very subtle take-offs of
well known players.
The true star of the film is the on field action,
which has a seamless blend between live-action and TV broadcast to
heighten the intensity of the matches, but thankfully, Cannon realises
that most games aren’t 10 point score lines. Given the co-operation of
FIFA, Goal delivers an authentic show all round.
Goal is a promising start to a trilogy that could do well if it
builds on the good points of this installment, and with the third film
taking place during the World Cup, there’s every opportunity to do so
if it’s given the right direction, but with the second film under the
helm of Jaume Collet-Serra (House Of Wax), things may not be looking
good…
