Its awkward title notwithstanding, Goal! The Dream Begins (Touchstone) — the first installment of a proposed trilogy — packs some kick in the underdog tradition of Rocky or any number of other overcoming-the-odds sports movies.
A newcomer to the American screen, though a star in his native Mexico, Kuno Becker plays Santiago Munez, an undocumented Mexican living in the Los Angeles barrio. The titular dream is his wish to escape a menial existence and play professional soccer. His unsupportive father (Tony Plana), who smuggles his family across the border, has an American dream as well: to start his own landscaping business with Santiago.
Santiago's fancy footwork catches the eye of a visiting former British scout (Stephen Dillane) who offers Santiago a tryout with a top-tier English soccer team, Newcastle United.
Santiago jumps at the chance and his father fumes, lecturing his son about familial duty. Several shouting matches later, Santiago leaves California for cold, rainy England, where he must prove himself to the team's owner (Marcel Lures) and win over the other players, including Newcastle's playboy all-star acquisition, Gavin Harris (Alessandro Nivola).
The familiar scenario includes Santiago falling for the pretty team nurse (Anna Friel).
With films like this, it's best to sit back and tolerate the cliches — such as the medical secret that threatens to bench Santiago — and not be overly critical of plot, but a pivotal decision late in the story puts Santiago in a selfish light, dulling the character's otherwise sympathetic edge.
Despite the underdeveloped characters and the overlong length, director Danny Cannon, helped by Becker's appealing performance, has made a crowd-pleasing film that manages to score.
The film contains few crude expressions, suggested drunkenness and carousing, implied sexual situations and some sports roughness, limiting its appropriateness to older adolescents and up. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is A-II — adults and adolescents. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG — parental guidance suggested. Some material may not be suitable for children.
(This review appears courtesy of US Conference of Catholic Bishop's Office for Film and Broadcasting.)
