(Our boys Santiago and Gavino, up to their usual kicks again… )
CAST: Kuno Becker, Alessandro Nivola, Anna Friel, Leonor Varela, Elizabeth Pena, Rutger Hauer, Stephen Dillane, David Beckham, Zinedine Zidane, Carlos Maria Gutierrez, Roberto Carlos, Jorge Jurado.
DIRECTOR: Jaume Collet-Serra.
WARNING: Some SPOILERS and the real life Real Madrid colliding with the fictional duo of Santiago Munez and Gavin Harris, both bad-asses…
In our review for GOAL! THE DREAM BEGINS (review # 185) back in December, we saw an illegal alien gardener from East L.A. embark on a rags-to-riches journey across the Atlantic to Newcastle, England, after he catches the eye of a football (since this movie is set in Europe, we will use the term “football”) scout. At the end of the movie, our hero Santiago Munez (Kuno Becker) had achieved the following: (1) a red-hot career as Newcastle United’s golden boy; (2) a red-hot romance with local nurse Roz Harmison (Anna Friel); and (3) a strong friendship with the team’s black sheep bad boy, Gavin Harris (Alessandro Nivola), a veteran player who risked his reputation and career to help Santiago get a foothold and survive his hazing in the English game - which translates to cold, wet, muddy, and brutal.
Our next review is the sequel to GOAL!. Where the first film was subtitled THE DREAM BEGINS!, the sequel carries the added moniker of LIVING THE DREAM!. And it couldn’t be more accurate. You see, as our movie starts we find out that Gavin has been transferred to Real Madrid, and has been playing alongside real-life superstars David Beckham, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Zinedine Zidane themselves. That, and the fact that Gavin now calls sunny, sexy, sultry Spain home, and not rainy, clammy, gloomy Newcastle, is basically all the proof you need that, yes, Gavin is living the dream.
But what about our hero and Gavin’s buddy Santiago? Thanks for asking. Our boy Santi is basically still stuck in rainy, clammy, gloomy Newcastle. Don’t cry too much for him, though, because he’s still a superstar for Newcastle United and is scoring more goals than there are rain puddles on the local streets. Plus, he’s still with Roz and she’s quite the hottie. Oh, and all those stellar goals for the local team has gotten Santiago a nice car and an even nicer house. Factor in his upcoming nuptials to Roz, and you have to admit that Santi is kind of living the dream, too.
Except for all that Newcastle rain, that is. Which kind of puts a damper on things. Literally. Fortunately, Santiago’s talent doesn’t go unnoticed by the powers-that-be down on the Continent, and before you know it, who should be calling Santiago’s agent Glen (Stephen Dillane) with a job offer but the owners of Real Madrid themselves? Seems that Santi is destined to be reunited with his soul brother Gavin. Will Santiago jump at the opportunity to live in a place that’s considered the Florida of Europe alongside the buddy who basically stuck his neck out repeatedly for him? Does your average Englishman need a tan?
Before you know it, the international news machine is making a big deal about this new addition to Real Madrid. Rightfully so, too, since in addition to Gavin, Santi is joining the likes of David Beckham, Zinedine Zidane, Cristiano Ronaldo, and all the other real-life Cocks of the Block that populate Spain’s famous team. Will Santiago hold his own even with Gavin’s help? I guess we’ll see, won’t we?
As if he didn’t have enough to deal with trying to get settled with his new team, Santi also has deal with, ahem, the ladies. See, Roz is being a pill about how much she loves Newcastle and refuses to move full-time to Spain. To which I say, “Wake the hell up, you fucking cow. This is Spain we’re talking about here. What’s so attractive about rain clouds? Hey, Santi, if this bitch doesn’t want to join you, I’ll do it, baby. You just let me know.” Sure enough, Roz and Santiago’s long distance relationship begins to try their nerves. It doesn’t help that Santi has to deal with predatory local TV host Jordana Garcia (Leonor Varela) who clearly wants to tie him to a bed and milk his nutsac for several nights. I would. Actually, I’d go for Gavin instead.
Then there’s Gavin’s sudden resurgence in the game. Once labeled a has-been fuck-up, Gavin has suddenly recovered his mo-jo and is scoring more goals than there are varieties of tapas at the local bars. Unfortunately, Gavin’s second wind coincides with a sudden dead calm on Santiago’s part. Specifically, Santi accidentally trips and injures an opponent, which results in him getting the dreaded red card - and banished from the field. This displeases Real Madrid’s coach (Rutger Hauer) enough to bench Santiago for the next few games. Meanwhile, Gavin seems to be poised to be Real Madrid’s next golden boy. Where will this leave Santi?
As if the above truly wasn’t enough to fuck up someone Spanish holiday, Santiago also has to deal with a mysterious street kid named Enrique (Jorge Jurado) doing stupid shit like jumping out in front of his car at the last minute and telling him that they are brothers. Given that Santiago is a world-famous football player, and 99% of boys around the globe would kill to be his little brother, you’d have to forgive him for basically telling the brat to fuck off and sniff some more glue.
But what if Enrique is telling the truth? What if he is really Santiago’s younger brother? How would that even be possible since Santiago is from East L.A. and Enrique is from Madrid? And on the love front, will Roz and Santi work out their problems? Or will he succumb to Jordana’s vulpine charms? What about Gavin? Will his star overtake Santiago’s? Or will brotherly loyalty win in the end? And the most important question of all: why aren’t there more locker room scenes in this flick? And where are the shower scenes?
Seriously. You have Kuno Becker, Alessandro Nivola, David Beckham, Zinedine Zidane, Cristiano Ronaldo in the same movie, and you can count the number of locker room scenes on just one hand? And zero shower scenes? What the hell is up with that? That’s like casting Denise Richards in a movie and not showing her tits even once…
BUT, SERIOUSLY: One of the most enduring story formulas is that of the “Underdog Who Triumphs Over Adversity“, and the first GOAL movie took that, combined it with the timeless sport of soccer, and fashioned a propulsive, engaging movie out of it. We were so invested in Santiago Munez’s journey from lowly illegal alien gardener from East L.A., to surprise star player of Newcastle United, that his battle to make his dream come true almost became our own. You know you identify with a character when that happens. You want to see him succeed as if he were a real person.
The sequel takes all the characters we loved from the first film, puts them in the dynamic environment of the Real Madrid team, and steps back to see what happens. In essence, GOAL 2 basically tests the major relationships explored in the first film: (1) Santiago’s romance with Roz; and (2) his friendship with Gavin, which superseded the romance with Roz in the first film to become the story’s emotional core. It does so again here, but we’ll talk about that a little later.
I was tempted to rate GOAL 2 about half-a-star lower (***½ instead of ****), because it has too many subplots vying for attention. Unlike the first film which just had the main plot of Santiago’s struggle to survive in Newcastle, with the additional threads of his relationships with Roz and Gavin, GOAL 2 adds a few more threads that threaten to turn the plot into a tangled mess. While the Santiago-Roz-Jordana triangle was probably necessary to throw some complications into the romance, it ultimately goes nowhere and given how much time was devoted to this thread, the final effect is unsatisfying.
Also handled a little awkwardly is the thread about Santiago’s long-lost mother also living somehow in Madrid, along with his long-lost little brother. This element is drawn out longer than it needs to be, and actually hampers the film in some parts because it requires such a large suspension of disbelief. I suppose the writers wanted to introduce another thread about Santi’s real brother Enrique to parallel the one about his vibrant relationship with his “soul” brother Gavin. That’s understandable, but Enrique is presented as such a reckless and unlikable character that you wonder why they bothered including him in the story in the first place. Furthermore, this whole element has the stale feel of a soap opera, which threatens to affect the film overall.
Fortunately, two things keep GOAL 2 from being inferior to its predecessor: (1) some amazing football scenes, which had me cheering and pumping my fist every time Gavin or Santi scored a goal; and (2) Santiago’s friendship with Gavin, which anchors this film in the same quietly moving way it did in the first movie.
Director Jaume Collet-Serra has good eye for kinetic action, and he brings it to bear in the football matches. There’s a strong “you are right there” feeling to these sequences, and watching them makes you realize that Pele is right: football/soccer is indeed the “beautiful game.” Watching Gavin and Santiago blend seamlessly with Beckham, Zidane, Ronaldo, and the other real players of Real Madrid out on the field is breathtaking to behold.
Speaking of Gavin and Santiago, their “Bromance” is still GOAL 2’s highlight, just as it was in the first film. One of the pleasures of the original GOAL was watching our expectations subverted as Gavin was set up to be Santiago’s nemesis, only to watch the former turn into a fierce and loyal advocate for the latter. Gavin’s commitment to protecting and defending Santiago from the Newcastle powers-that-be revived his own ardor for the sport of soccer - and cemented his friendship with the younger player.
In GOAL 2, that friendship is suddenly tested as the press (and others) tries to drive a wedge between Santi and Gavin by pitting them against each other. I’ve always believed that a friendship is not a friendship if it can easily be destroyed by outside forces. True friends see past the surface and give each other the benefit of the doubt. That is never more true than in the relationship between Santiago and Gavin, who continue to have each other’s backs despite the elements seeking to undermine their connection.
It further helps that, as with the first GOAL, Alessandro Nivola turns Gavin into the most engaging character. Whether freaking out over a bald spot and new wrinkles, or squiring four beautiful women at the same time, or annoying a hung over Santiago by yelling from the kitchen about the location of the milk - only to surprise him with breakfast in bed, Nivola turns Gavin into the ideal best friend: funny, loyal, sweet, brave, and selfless. I can’t wait to see GOAL 3, if for no other reasons than we get to see more of Gavin and Santiago’s friendship - and more awesome football scenes.
In the end, GOAL 2 remains a **** (very good) movie, just like the first one, because of those explosive football scenes and Santiago and Gavin’s friendship. Or “Gavino” - as Santiago likes to call him. While everyone in the movie delivers good performances, Kuno Becker and Alessandro Nivola own it all with their characters.
It’s enough to make me cancel my Orcas Island plans for next weekend and go to the match between the Seattle Sounders and the Chicago Fire instead. But the plans are set, and some lucky person (plus one) is going to be receiving some free tickets soon. What a hard choice to make. But my loss will be someone else’s gain.
In closing, please enjoy Feeder's "Feeling A Moment" from GOAL 2's official soundtrack. Think of it as Santi and Gavin's Bromance Theme...
