Next Goal Wins

Official Australian release date: 1/1/24. Viewed: 4/1/24.
Director: Taika Waititi
Actors: Michael Fassbender, Oscar Kightley, Kaimana, David Fane
Genre: Comedy / Biopic
Rating: PG

‘Next Goal Wins’ is Taika Waititi’s 8^th film as director, and is another heartfelt little comedy gem, much more similar to ‘Boy’ and ‘Hunt for the Wilderpeople’ than his other films. It’s based on a true story, after the Socceroos beat American Samoa 31-0 in a World Cup Qualifier in 2001. The ‘boss’ of American Samoa Football, Tavita (Kightley) then hires semi-disgraced coach Thomas Rongen (Fassbender) to try to help them to score just one goal.

Thomas doesn’t necessarily want to be there and the reasons for his anger are slowly revealed over the course of the film. The other main character who has a nice journey is Jaiyah (Kaimana), which is portrayed very well. Sadly it was filmed in Hawaii – not American Samoa or Tonga, but still looks great and gives it a tropical Polynesian vibe. Most of the film follows common misfits-to-sporting-heroes tropes, but is still based in reality – i.e. the team doesn’t go on to win the World Cup or anything! Good support cast, with Waititi favourites Rachel House & Rhys Daby present and small roles for Will Arnett & Elizabeth Moss, and the over-zealous Australians, Angus Sampson & Luke Hemsworth.

The soundtrack is good, and the portrayal of American Samoan culture is done well, particularly the pre-match war dances. The pacing is also good, with it not being too long, and there’s a nice balance between jokes and some of the touching/character-building moments. It’s nice to see Thomas come around and the positivity and happiness all the American Samoans show him and each other. The final game is well-edited and exciting, a fitting finish.

Overall: Simple, uplifting soccer story

Gav's Rating: 4 stars.

 

Migration

Official Australian release date: 26/12/23. Viewed: 3/1/24.
Directors: Ben Renner & Guylo Homsy
Actors: Kumail Nanjiani, Elizabeth Banks, Danny DeVito, Caspar Jennings
Genre: Adventure / Family
Rating: G

‘Migration’ is a really well-made family film. It’s a simple premise about anthropomorphic ducks – the father duck, Mack (Nanjiani), wants to protect his children/chicks, Dax (Jennings) and Gwen (Gazal), and the mother duck, Pam (Banks), wants them to experience the world and gain some experience. They meet some other ducks migrating south for the winter – they’re presumably in North-Eastern USA – so they decide to do the same, with quirky uncle Dan (DeVito) in tow. 

What follows is both a semi-familiar road-trip comedy, as well as a refreshing take on family, trying new things and helping others. There’s a great support cast, as the duck family passes through New York City and meets Chump the pigeon (Awkwafina), Delroy the macaw (Key), as well as Erin the heron (Kane) and GooGoo (Mitchell) – either a goose or a white duck. There’s a nice jail-break sequence for Delroy, which sets up the human antagonist, the Chef.

For some reason the Chef also has a Chinook and hunts them down, leading to Dax and Gwen having to step-up. The animation is a nice mix of cartoonish and realistic, and it looks excellent, especially at the end. There’s no overly-scary moments, some teachable themes, the voice cast is all good and there’s consistent laughs throughout. There’s also ‘Mooned’, the 9-min ‘Despicable Me’ tie-in at the start of the film, which kids seemed to love.

Overall: Nice, fun family film

Gav's Rating: 3.5 stars.

Flynn’s rating: 4 stars.
Lucy’s rating: 5 stars.

Dream Scenario

Official Australian release date: 1/1/24. Viewed: 2/1/24.
Director: Kristoffer Borgli
Actors: Nicolas Cage, Julianne Nicholson, Tim Meadows, Michael Cera
Genre: Drama
Rating: MA

‘Dream Scenario’ is a unique concept, with thousands of people seeing Paul (Cage) in their dreams, just walking through, not really participating in the dream. This then turns him into a celebrity, something Paul, his wife Janet (Nicholson), daughters Hannah (Clement) and Sophie (Bird), and boss Brett (Meadows) aren’t prepared for, especially as he has no control over what’s happening. The film does well to purposefully not explore the how/why it’s happening and focuses on the impacts on Paul.

Odd that a lot of places are billing this as a comedy – I’d say it’s a drama, with a few little laughs, which then diverts into mild horror at the end, as the dreams inevitability turn into nightmares. Cage is good, and not totally manic, but plays a Professor and normal dad well, who ends up at his wits end. The ending is not as dark as it could’ve been, but nor is it a nice comedy ending either.

There’s some existential questions and you obviously get to ask “what would I do in this situation?” But mostly it’s probably an indictment on modern society, especially the penultimate scene. The support cast is good – should also mention Molly (Gelula) & Trent (Cera) from the PR company who play significant parts. And always good to have a Talking Heads song to wrap things up!

Overall: Interesting “what if” scenario

Gav's Rating: 3 stars