Bland photography and perfunctory writing are the very least of my issues with “Next Goal Wins,” a movie-shaped stain on the class of entertainment known as the sports-underdog comedy.
Whatever Waititi’s past sins — I’m looking at you, the cringe-inducing “Jojo Rabbit” (2019) — his work has usually been polished and, yes, funny; this degree of carelessness is something new.
A horrifyingly miscast Michael Fassbender stars as Thomas Rongen, a pugnacious Dutch-born soccer coach whose sideline rages have earned him professional banishment to American Samoa.
Ten years earlier, the island’s soccer team had suffered a 31-0 defeat in its 2001 World Cup qualifying match against Australia, and since then has failed to score a single goal.
With just three weeks until the team’s next important game, can Rongen whip its cosmically inept members into shape?
Persons:
Bland, ”, Mike Brett, Steve Jamison’s, Taika Waititi, “ Jojo Rabbit ”, —, Michael Fassbender, Thomas Rongen
Organizations:
New, American Samoa, Australia
Locations:
New Zealand, Dutch, American