Stars: Kuno Becker, Anna Friel, Alessandro Nivola, Marcel Lures, Stephen Dillane, Kieran O'Brien, Sean Pertwee, Cassandra Bell, Greg Ellis

Director: Danny Cannon

Summary: Santiago Munez, an illegal Mexican immigrant living in Los Angeles, lives and breathes soccer. With the support of his doting grandmother, Santiago travels to England, and finds himself in a world where football is king, and footballers are Gods. His path to soccer stardom is tortuous and paved with pitfalls. Santiago must overcome a terrible tryout, a secret asthma condition, and the animosity of some of his teammates.

Santiago Munez (Kuno Becker), an illegal Mexican immigrant living in Los Angeles, lives and breathes soccer, but seems destined to live his life as a day labourer. His father, Hernan (Tony Plana), a stern hardworking man, discourages Santiago from playing soccer, believing it is only a feckless fantasy. One day, a former British professional, Glen Foy, spots Santiago playing in a pickup game, and promises him a tryout for Newcastle United. With the support of his doting grandmother, Santiago travels to England, and finds himself in a world where football is king, and footballers are Gods. His path to soccer stardom is tortuous and paved with pitfalls. Santiago must overcome a terrible tryout, a secret asthma condition, and the animosity of some of his teammates. However, with the guidance of Glen, the love of a plucky and beautiful nurse (Anna Friel), and the unexpected support by Newcastle United's playboy star Gavin Harris (Alessandro Nivola), Santiago finally finds himself in a position to score a pivotal goal and live his dream.


GOAL! THE DREAM BEGINS contains many of the familiar tropes of the zero-to-hero sports story, but it rises above the cliches of the genre through the quality of the screenplay and the excellence of the acting. Each of the many minor roles is played to humble perfection, and the film artfully juggles dozens of subplots: Santiago's problematic involvement with troubled superstar Gavin Harris, his romance with Roz, his friendship with Glen, and his strained relationship with his father. The film proves to be full of subtle warmth and surprisingly moving. Thrilling matches--and cameos by such soccer luminaries as David Beckham and Zinedine Zidane--will certainly appeal to soccer fans, but GOAL!'s charming story will appeal to almost anyone.

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Reviewed by: davybozal24-7
Posted on March 7, 2006 7:33 PM

This surely must be the best footie movie ever made and no mistake. Kuno Becker as young talented football genius Santiago Munez who gets to play for the Black and Whites of Newcastle United
and becomes a football legend is not to be missed . You just have to feel for the youngster as he makes the rags to riches rise to football stardom despite his father not wanting him to be a footballer
and to work in the family business , but stardom beckons for this talented young man as he defeats his inner demons to reach the top. Wonderful viewing.

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Within a matter of minutes, you know how this one's going to play out. Goaltells the tale of Santiago Nunez, a Mexican living in Los Angeles. His family are poor, his father has ideas for what he wants him to do, and yet he has an incredible football talent. So when a British scout sees him play, and cobbles together a trial for him at Newcastle United, he has to choose between his father's plans and the chance to play football thousands of miles away.

It wouldn't be much of a film if he chose the former, and truthfully, you'll not find too many surprises where Goalis concerned. It sticks fairly rigidly to the sporting movie template that's been set down since the days of Rocky, and, given that this is the first in a trilogy, it's hardly surprising that it doesn't take too many risks.

And yet, as a piece of entertainment, it works absolutely fine. From the suitably convincing football action, the inevitable distractions of a footballer's life and unintentionally hilarious cameos from the likes of David Beckham, Goalis fun, pure and simple. The trailer for the sequel, included on the DVD, promises even more of the same. Bring it on…--Simon Brew

Aspect Ratio:	2.40 Wide Screen
Main Language:	English
Region:	Region 2
Special Features:	Behind The Pitch, The Beautiful Game, Audio Commentary Feature Length, Happy Mondays Music Video Playground Superstar, Munez Plus 10, Golden Moments Of The FIFA World Cup, 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany, Goal II Trailer, Audio Described
Subtitles:	Arabic, Bulgarian, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, Greek, Icelandic, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish
Year:	2005
Release Date:	March 6, 2006
Runtime:	118 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	B U A 0008601
Keywords:	Action, General, Goal, Adventure
Genre:	Action/Adventure