Jeri Jacquin

Coming to Bluray and DVD from writer/director Taika Waititi and Searchlight Pictures comes the unusual story of a soccer team they never see coming with NEXT GOAL WINS.

Soccer coach Thomas Rongen’s (Michael Fassbender) life is about to change but necessarily not the way he thinks. Up against a committee that includes estranged wife Gail (Elisabeth Moss) and smug Alex Magnussen (Will Arnett) he is given the opportunity to do something most consider impossible – coach the American Samoa national team. The reason it is considered impossible is because they have never goaled, not once.

Arriving in American Samoa, it is clear that Rongen is not a happy man. Meeting the team of players, he immediately thinks it is all a joke knowing he can’t turn back. He meets Tavita (Oscar Kightley) who introduces him to the team and eventually becomes a sort of spiritual guide for Rongen and Ace (David Fane) a coach who is more a father figure than a coach.

Daru (Beulah Koale) is on the team of those who haven’t really been coached before and the surprise for the new coach is Jaiyah (Kaimana). Preparing them to become an elite soccer squad before World Cup qualifiers is a challenge for Rongen and it takes a lot of learning for him to realize that perhaps he is the reason things aren’t going well.

Yet, the team comes together, Rogen finds where he belongs and the team finds what they have been looking for and that’s just one goal!

Fassbender as Rongen is a disgruntled soccer coach that is on the outs with the wife and dealing with something he can’t talk about. Being sent to American Somona feels like the worse punishment and once he sees what the team he is coaching is about, he feels like it is worse than he could ever have imagined. Fassbender is surrounded by a cast that just keeps the viewer one step away from totally wanting to kick a ball to his face but his character does grow on us all.

Kightley as Tavita is the spiritual coach of the team. He realizes quickly that Rongen has to be guided to the one thing Tavita has asked the universe for, one single solitary goal! I truly enjoyed Kightley’s character as the solid and calm needed in the chaos. Kaimana as Jaiyah gives Rongen a reason to rethink so much about how he sees the world but also Kaimana gives us a look at Jaiya’s own personal struggles of acceptance.

Koale as Daru is a young man who wants so much to give his father, Tavita, something to be proud of and resolve his own feelings about playing soccer. Koale gives us a young man who is proud of his heritage, family and friends which is the warm blanket of cuddles I love about the film.

Other cast include Rachel House as Ruth, Uli Latukefu as Nicky, Chris Alosio as Jonah, Rhys Darby as Rhys Marlin, Angus Sampson as Angus Bendleton, Luke Hemsworth as Keith, Kaitlyn Dever as Nicole, David Tu’itupou as Tall David, Levy Tuiala as Chief Sila, Frankie Adams as Frangipani, Semu Filipo as Rambo, Chris Alosio as Jonah, Lehi Falepapalangi as Pisa, Ioane Goodhue as Smiley, Hio Pelesasa as Samson, and Taika Waititi as the American Samoan Priest.

Searchlight Pictures is responsible for such films as SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE, 12 YEARS A SLAVE, THE SHAPE OF WATER and THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING MISSOURI. They have an extensive film library as well as documentaries, scripted series, and limited series. For more information, please visit www.searchlightpictures.com.

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Bonus Features include the Featurette Creating The Pitch of Life – Explore filmmaker Taika Waititi’s loving homage to American Samoa, Polynesian culture, and the sports movie in this delightfully entertaining short-form documentary.  See what it took to make a winning movie about the losingest soccer team in the world, Deleted Scene and Priest Blessing the Team.

NEXT GOAL WINS is a humorous and human look at individuals who each have their own struggles but when they come together, amazing and wonderful things begin to happen. The team shows what they have been lacking and Rongen shows what he can be good at given the chance. Leadership doesn’t mean just one leader when they all have the potential!

The film is based on the documentary Next Goal Wins written in 2014 by Mike Brett and Steve Jamison. It is based on the American Samoa soccer team who lost to Australia in 2001 with a score of 31-0 and considered to be the worst World Cup loss in the history of the game.

But hey, you can’t win them all right? Wrong.

In the end – just one goal!

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