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In 2001, the American Samoa soccer team gained notoriety for suffering a historically terrible loss of 31-0 against Australia. Despite a decade of disappointment and lack of progress, the team eventually hired a foreign coach, Thomas Rongen, who had his own personal struggles. His unspoken mission was to redeem the honor of American Samoa by scoring just one goal.
In 2014, Mike Brett and Steve Jamison created a popular heartwarming documentary called “Next Goal Wins”. Some may argue that it should have been remade into a fictional comedy, while others may disagree. However, director Taika Waititi and co-writer Iain Morris decided to create a remake, which is now a broad, loving, and often comical film. Unfortunately, the remake loses the element of being stranger-than-fiction, but it still manages to be silly and endearing. However, the genre of underdog sports comedies cannot fully capture the tragic revelation that is present in the real-life story (and not acknowledging it would have been a mistake).
David Fane stars as Ace, a coach who is not very effective and outgoing. The role of Jaiyah, a talented transgender player, is played by Kaimana, a non-binary actor. However, the most surprising choice in the film’s casting is Michael Fassbender as Rongen, known for his serious roles and currently playing a killer in another film. Fassbender is not known for comedy like Ricky Gervais or Chris O’Dowd, but he puts a lot of effort into creating a comedic performance and manages to pull it off.
In a way, the odder turns are from Elisabeth Moss and Will Arnett as Rongen’s ex-wife and her new partner who are tonally very uncertain – but then that sombre backstory was always going to cause them difficulties. The whole film is a little rough-and-ready in the way it’s put together, but it’s amiable and well-intentioned and the laughs are real.
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Source: theguardian.com
