Next Goal Wins Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		5.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		1.5
Overall		3.5

Next Goal Wins Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman February 23, 2024

Let's just cut to the chase and say, yes, of course the underdog sports team at the center of Next Goal Wins rises to various challenges and ends up triumphing. Is there any underdog sports team movie that doesn't offer that same general arc? But if you've seen the broad general outlines of this story countless times before, Next Goal Wins has an unusual amount of heart, even for an entry like this which typically provides a lot of emotional content, while also offering nice doses of often sweet humor, all within an at least somewhat unusual "cultural" context. The story is, as they say, "inspired by true events", and in this case those "true events" were even the subject of a preceding documentary also entitled Next Goal Wins, which came out around a decade ago. Kind of interestingly, some of the documentary creators matriculated to this production as well, and they along with co-writer and director Taika Waititi insist that, while certain elements have been altered for dramatic effect, the basic story is pretty much exactly as depicted in the film, which may be Exhibit A in the Truth is Stranger than Fiction Sweepstakes.

My hunch is many will probably share my general ignorance about American Samoa and its relationship to the nearby Independent State of Samoa, and if enquiring minds may still be left with unanswered questions by the end of this story, one thing is made abundantly clear: the natives of American Samoa are an unbelievably sweet, loving people who just happen to have been cursed with having one of the worst "football" (i.e., soccer) teams in history. The American Samoa Men's National Football Team in fact suffered the most humiliating defeat in international football history when they lost 31 to 0 in a match with Australia in 2001.

While that defeat is quickly addressed in some archival footage (which may have been lifted from that aforementioned documentary), the reason for the team's lackluster performance is just as rapidly divulged, with some scenes with a, yes, sweet and loving coach named Ace (David Fane) who is nonetheless spectacularly incapable of shepherding a ragtag team to victory. Head honcho of the American Samoa Football Team Tavita (Oscar Kightley), whose own son plays for the team, knows he needs someone else to lead the team, but it's Tavita's frisky wife Ruth (Rachel House) who insists his search extends beyond the reaches of American Samoa.

That's when a troubled coach named Thomas Rongen (Michael Fassbender) gets involved, though basically against his will and with no other choice than to accept the "offer" (read: assignment) to go to American Samoa. While all of these elements are actually kind of beyond cliché ridden, rather surprisingly Next Goal Wins has its own extremely distinctive character, with some almost childlike Samoans welcoming Rongen with a native song (and kinda sorta dance), and other interchanges with a motley crew of teammates which includes Jaiyah Saelua (Kaimana), a so-called fa'afafine whose easily accepted membership on the team may initially confound Rongen, but which is (as is discussed in the main supplement on this disc) a completely uncontroversial aspect of Samoan, and evidently all Polynesian, life.

There's a quasi father-daughter relationship that evolves between Rongen and Jaiyah, one which contrasts with the repeated trope of Rongen listening to saved voicemails from his real daughter, which probably too obviously hints at a tragedy and reason for Rongen's emotional troubles, which have led to his separation from wife Gail (Elisabeth Moss in what amounts to a glorified cameo). There's some very smart writing at times throughout the piece, and while some may find Will Arnett's characterization of a soccer official a bit on the smarmy side, he's front and center in a downright hilarious scene where Rongen is "informed" he's moving to American Samoa, and the Arnett character has an old style slide show prepared documenting the five stages of grief ready for Rongen's edification. Again, the whole "who's helping whom?" aspect of the plot is well worn and well travelled, not necessarily only in underdog sports teams films, but it achieves a rather powerful emotional impact nonetheless here.

The film is full of some spritely performances, especially by the wonderful Kightley, who more or less walks away with the film. There is one completely annoying performance, and that rather curiously is by Taika Waititi himself as a Priest who addresses the camera directly in bookending segments, and who shows up in the narrative as well, to really detrimental effect. Otherwise, though, this is a heartwarming story that is just "exotic" enough to make its really familiar story still seem at least somewhat new, if not necessarily improved.

Next Goal Wins Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Next Goal Wins is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of 20th Century Studios and Disney / Buena Vista with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.00:1. Captured with Arri Alexas and finished at 4K (both data points courtesy of the IMDb, though the eagle eyed may be able to spot an Arri camera or two in the making of featurette included on this disc as a supplement), this is a really appealing looking presentation that takes full advantage of the lush surroundings of Hawai'i (filling in for American Samoa). The palette is beautifully lush and suffused almost all of the time, and consistently in the many outdoor sequences, despite what look like sometimes overcast skies (with some really evocative looking mist and/or clouds hovering over the background mountaintops). Greens are understandably especially prevalent and really resonate strongly. Detail levels are generally excellent, with the perhaps obvious exception of the ragged looking archival video documenting the team's horrifying 31 to 0 loss against Australia.

Next Goal Wins Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Next Goal Wins features a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track that regularly springs to surround life courtesy of a glut of source cues, as well as some of the on screen hymn singing by the overtly religious American Samoans. Surround activity can be occasionally subtle (listen for example to how the bell announcing daily prayer time can be directionally placed differently at various points in the story), but the sound design offers some really evocative layering of background ambient environmental sounds with more up close and cacophonous effects detailing the scrimages of the soccer practices. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English, French and Spanish subtitles are available.

Next Goal Wins Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• The Pitch of Life (HD; 26:47) is a surprisingly enjoyable EPK with some interesting interviews with Waititi, Fassbender and Kaimana.


• "Priest Blessing the Team" Deleted Scene (HD; 2:37) may beg the question as to why the other scenes featuring the Priest weren't deleted.

Additionally a digital copy is included.

Next Goal Wins Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I frankly had a kind of sinking feeling during the introductory "bit" with Waititi playing the goofy Priest, but once the film got to the actual story, things improved markedly, and while offering a basic storyline that has been part and parcel of innumerable other films, there's still a specificity of culture in this piece that gives Next Goal Wins a really distinctive flavor. In other words, yes, you've seen Next Goal Wins before, but perhaps not quite like this. The supporting cast in particular is wonderful (it's actually incredibly touching to hear some of the young Polynesian cast members discuss in the EPK how meaningful it is for them being in a film where most of the cast is "brown", as they call it). Technical merits are solid, and Next Goal Wins comes Recommended.