Next Goal Wins

In cinemas now

Taika Waititi knows how to please a crowd, but his latest feature feels like a pastiche of his prior work that, despite its best intentions, fails to demand an emotional reaction from its audience. Granted, the afterthought vibe that pervades Next Goal Wins may be resultant of the film’s COVID-induced delay, but that’s not the only reason for it failing to sizzle.

Although I haven’t seen Mike Brett and Steve Jamison’s critically-acclaimed documentary on which this picture is based, I can imagine it probably did a better job of capturing the curious tale of Dutch-American coach Thomas Rongen’s attempts to help the hapless American Samoa football team qualify for the 2014 World Cup.

That’s because the competing narratives of Next Goal Wins do not lend themselves well to Waititi’s offbeat style, which works better when focused on a set of quirky protagonists and a supporting cast of affable oddballs. Here, the character of Rongen (played by a game but miscast Michael Fassbender) is far from the most interesting, with the story of Jaiyah Saelua (Kaimana), the first openly non-binary and trans woman to compete in a World Cup qualifier, making for a much more engaging and timely tale.

Sadly, Waititi’s approach to that arc is generally pretty trivial, with the film mostly focusing on the hot-headed Rongen’s unconventional coaching techniques and half-arsed attempts to assimilate himself into American Samoa culture, which renders Next Goal Wins a pretty forgettable watch.