Next Goal Wins (2023)

Score: 4.5 / 5

Taika Waititi is back in pure form with Next Goal Wins, which is also one of my favorite movies this year. Perhaps it feels unfairly fresh to me because I usually eschew sports films; those more accustomed to the genre might find this bland or trite, because it doesn't offer many surprises to the typical narrative or themes. But novelty doesn't trump other concerns, and this movie has style and heart to spare. I haven't laughed aloud this much in cinemas in years, and before the film ended I had also openly wept.

The story concerns Thomas Rongen (a terrific Michael Fassbender), the real-life Dutch-American football (soccer) coach with a nasty temper. That rage has gotten him into trouble with FIFA before, and now he's offered an ultimatum: he'll be fired outright, or he can relocate to American Samoa to coach their losing team back to a ranking that isn't worst. Because they are, literally, the worst team, having notoriously lost a World Cup game by the largest margin in the organization's history. As they prepare for the 2014 World Cup, Rongen has to navigate a culture he doesn't understand and build trust among his team, yes, but he also has to face himself, his temper, and the pain in his past he hasn't yet processed. Sometimes it takes failure and displacement to get you to really take stock and make internal changes. So Next Goal Wins is a sports story about underdogs, and in that it isn't anything groundbreaking; it's also the story of a tortured coach who finally starts to heal, and in that it's similarly rote.

What makes it special is the Waititi flair and humor, especially paired with a setting we don't get to see much in American movies. While that reveals my tendency to enjoy stories of white Westerners in "exotic" cultures, I'd argue that even those of the Eat, Pray, Love ilk aren't all bad. Escapism works, both in life and in art, and as long as the white visitors or transplants know their place and the story doesn't hinge on cultural appropriation or colonialism, I find it potentially incredibly endearing. Think of The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, its sequel, or even last year's Ticket to Paradise, and they're just fabulous feel-good exercises that offer tastes of wholly different lives, and we can be changed along with the protagonist by just absorbing the newness.

All this said, I do rather wish that Waititi had chosen to situate his protagonist not as the new coach but rather as the team captain, Jaiyah, played by Kaimana, who easily gives one of the best performances in the movie. Jaiyah is fa'afafine, a community in Samoa that is recognized and respected as another gender (other than male or female). In real life, she is the first openly non-binary and trans woman to play in the World Cup qualifiers. With that incredible germ of a story right there, it's hard to swallow that Waititi wanted to center everything about a bitter white coach unable to handle his anger instead. Jaiyah's dynamic arc of courage and perseverance could have dramatized hours of storytelling on its own, but Waititi uses her as a subplot to help Rongen see the light. And while this relationship is one of the most important and central to the film, it's also treated with a certain glibness by the screenplay: during one particularly nasty scene, Rongen uses Jaiyah's legal name intentionally cruelly in front of the team in an attempt to control and shame her, and it's really just chalked up to his not knowing better as a foreigner. Even later when they reconcile, Rongen's pointed questions about her genitals aren't addressed as anything more insidious than an annoyance.

Dramatically, even on Rongen's side, things are kept pretty close to the chest. His ex, played by Elizabeth Moss, and her new fling, played by Will Arnett, pop in for a few scenes, but they're mostly treated as silly distractions after they've sent Rongen packing in the opening sequence. Much more screen time is given to the Samoans, including a brilliant Oscar Kightley as Tavita and the team under him. Tavita plays perhaps the strongest role in showing Rongen that island life isn't the same as it is in the rest of the world, getting him to slow down and seek happiness in practical, real ways. His lessons, and lessons from the other islanders, are laced with large dollops of comedy, intentionally eccentric to white ears but rich in Waititi's idiosyncratic wit. While sometimes the humor tries to mask a shallowness of these characters, who aren't very well realized, the effect on the film is a sort of delightful romp through a wholly new slice of life. I absolutely loved it all, from the soundtrack choices to stunning tropical visuals and richly designed costumes. For a heartwarming and inspiring story that is as reliably safe as it is hilarious, please go see Next Goal Wins with your friends and family this holiday weekend!