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Goal!

Goal!

Drama · Family · 2005

Like millions of kids around the world, Santiago harbors the dream of being a professional footballer... However, living in the Barrios section of Los Angeles, he thinks it is only that—a dream. Until one day an extraordinary turn of events has him trying out for Premiership club Newcastle United.

Movie details

Goal!

“Every dream has a beginning.”

2005 Drama · Family 1h 58m

Critical arithmetic

The consensus, allegedly.

IMDb

6.7 / 10

68K votes

Rotten Tomatoes

43 %

Tomatometer

Metacritic

53 / 100

Metascore

TMDB

6.8 / 10

Community rating

External scores via OMDb · CC BY-NC 4.0. Values normalized for display; availability varies by title.

Like millions of kids around the world, Santiago harbors the dream of being a professional footballer... However, living in the Barrios section of Los Angeles, he thinks it is only that—a dream. Until one day an extraordinary turn of events has him trying out for Premiership club Newcastle United.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Goal!?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

The Rookie

The Rookie

Drama · 2002

Jim Morris never made it out of the minor leagues before a shoulder injury ended his pitching career twelve years ago. Now a married-with-children high-school chemistry teacher and baseball coach in Texas, Jim's team makes a deal with him: if they win the district championship, Jim will try out with a major-league organization. The bet proves incentive enough for the team, and they go from worst to first, making it to state for the first time in the history of the school. Jim, forced to live up to his end of the deal, is nearly laughed off the try-out field--until he gets onto the mound, where he confounds the scouts (and himself) by clocking successive 98 mph fastballs, good enough for a minor-league contract with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Jim's still got a lot of pitches to throw before he makes it to The Show, but with his big-league dreams revived, there's no telling where he could go.

Hoovey

Hoovey

Family · 2015

The true and inspiring story of the Elliott family, who refused to surrender, instead turning to one another and their faith in the worst of circumstances, to rebuild their lives, their boy, and their dreams... together. Step by grueling step, with faith, love, and the tireless work of a mother and father to save their family, their farm, their dream, Hoovey learns to walk again. To read again. To dribble and shoot a basketball again. And yes, to dream again himself. Then stepping out in his faith, back onto the hard court, to live that dream of playing this game once more...

The Shack

The Shack

Drama · 2017

A grieving man receives a mysterious, personal invitation to meet with God at a place called 'The Shack'.

I Believe

I Believe

Family · 2019

A 9 year old boy experiences God's power in a supernatural way.

Goal II: Living the Dream

Goal II: Living the Dream

Drama · 2007

Tempted away from Newcastle United to join Real Madrid, rising star Santiago Munez finds this latest change of fortune the greatest challenge yet - personally as well as professionally. He is reunited with Gavin Harris, though they must compete to be on the team, and estranged from fiancee Roz, whose nursing career keeps her back home.

Bobby Jones: Stroke of Genius

Bobby Jones: Stroke of Genius

Drama · 2004

The story of golf icon and legend, Bobby Jones, who retired from competition at the tender age of 28.

Fast Girls

Fast Girls

Drama · 2012

A street smart runner develops an intense rivalry with an equally ambitious wealthy young athlete.

TalhotBlond

TalhotBlond

Drama · 2012

Thomas Montgomery, a married father of two young daughters, gets seduced by the world of online gambling and chat rooms where a virtual romance and sexual obsession ultimately leads to the murder of an innocent man.

The Beautiful Game

The Beautiful Game

Drama · 2024

A group of advocates to end homelessness organize an annual tournament for homeless people to compete in a series of football matches known as The Homeless World Cup.

Resurrecting the Champ

Resurrecting the Champ

Drama · 2007

Up-and-coming sports reporter rescues a homeless man ("Champ") only to discover that he is, in fact, a boxing legend believed to have passed away. What begins as an opportunity to resurrect Champ's story and escape the shadow of his father's success becomes a personal journey as the ambitious reporter reexamines his own life and his relationship with his family.

Where it lives

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Danny Cannon

Written by

Dick Clement · Mike Jefferies · Adrian Butchart · Ian La Frenais

Kuno Becker

Kuno Becker

Santiago Muñez

Tony Plana

Tony Plana

Hernan Muñez

Stephen Dillane

Stephen Dillane

Glen Foy

Alessandro Nivola

Alessandro Nivola

Gavin Harris

Anna Friel

Anna Friel

Roz Harmison

Marcel Iureș

Marcel Iureș

Erik Dornhelm

Gary Lewis

Gary Lewis

Mal Braithwaite

Court is in session

Put Goal! on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Sentimental Softie

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

The prosecution The Cool Ironist

“The strings are showing.”

Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.