Goal! The Dream Begins Reviews

Are you ready for some football?! No, not the version played with helmets, shoulder pads and pigskin. As the "goal" of title implies, this cliched but rousing sports drama is about the game that's popular everywhere except in America, and the one at which Santiago Munez (Kuno Becker) excels. A Mexican immigrant living in L.A., Santiago spends his days working for his father's landscaping business and his nights washing dishes in the back of a Chinese restaurant. But whenever he has a spare moment, he can be found on a soccer pitch, confounding other players and dazzling onlookers with his fancy footwork. One of these spectators is Glen Foy (Stephen Dillane), a former soccer pro from England who sees the promise of greatness in Santiago. He approaches the boy with a tempting offer: travel across the pond and he'll get the chance to try out for Foy's old team, Newcastle United. Santiago can't wait to get on the plane, but his stern papa (Tony Plana) refuses to let him leave, even going so far as to swipe his son's savings. Fortunately, Santiago's grandmother (Miriam Colon) is more understanding and uses her own money to fund his trip to England. Eventually he turns up on Foy's doorstep and, as promised, his benefactor arranges a tryout with Newcastle. But the audition doesn't go particularly well, as Santiago has difficulty adapting to the English style of play. Foy, however, isn't about to give up on the kid and convinces the team's gruff manager, Erik Dornhelm (Marcel Iures), to give him a monthlong stint in the Newcastle United boot camp. It quickly becomes clear that Santiago is the real deal after all, although the road to a starting position on the main squad is not without its obstacles. For one thing, he suffers from asthma, a condition he initially tries to keep a secret from his teammates and coaches. He also comes dangerously close to falling under the spell of Gavin Harris (Alessandro Nivola), Newcastle's party-hearty superstar. Off the field, Santiago competes to win the heart of local girl Roz (Anna Friel), a lovely nurse with a strict no-footballers dating policy. Will he and Roz become an item? Will he win a spot on the Newcastle team? Will he be expected to score the tie-breaking goal in the last game of the season? Anyone who answers "No" to any of these questions has clearly never seen THE NATURAL (1984), HOOSIERS (1986), RUDY (1993) or any other inspirational sports drama. Director Danny Cannon and his team of four screenwriters stick closely to the genre's playbook. Every plot development can be spotted a mile away and the booming soundtrack helpfully underlines each new conflict. Still, it all turns out to be a modest success because of its cliches rather than in spite of them. The actors turn in appealing performances (Nivola in particular seems to be having a grand time playing a David Beckham-like celebrity) and the climactic match is suitably exciting. A big success in Europe, the film has already spawned two sequels, the first of which is due to be released in the fall. Whether it will single-handedly spark a soccer revival in this country remains to be seen.