As I walked into the theater to watch Next Goal Wins, I saw another theater playing The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes.  I had the slightest of checks in my stride as I thought, shoot, did I miss out on the biggest film of the weekend?  Since I have only seen the first of that series, The Hunger Games (2012), and promptly gave up on the rest, I cannot say that my choice gave me too much pause.  There will be those of you that will argue with me, saying that I chose based on my personal preferences rather than that which the general public would pick.  I cannot deny this fact.  Still, it is not like Next Goal Win’s director, Taika Waititi, is some independent filmmaker who has done a bunch of projects with which nobody is familiar.  Have you heard of Thor: Ragnarok (2017)?  So, I went for one that I figured I would appreciate more, or, in other words, would not make me write as many snotty comments.  As you read this review of Next Goal Wins, please feel free to keep score of my sarcasm at home.

Speaking of keeping score, Next Goal Wins starts with a priest (Taika Waititi) giving you some background about the American Samoa national soccer team.  The unfortunate significant event in the team’s history is their 31-0 loss to Australia in a World Cup qualifying game, the most lopsided defeat ever in the sport on an international stage.  Often, such losses spur a team to do something to improve the situation, which comes in the form of Tavita (Oscar Kightley).  He is named the president of the Football Federation of American Samoa (FFAS), which is likes to pronounce as “fas” with a little extra emphasis on the “f’s.”  Upon witnessing yet another humiliating defeat by his side, he announces that he is going to get a new coach to guide the worst team in the world.  Though he does not know it yet, this person is to be Thomas Rongen (Michael Fassbender).  He is not aware of this assignment when he goes in to meet with those running the United States National men’s soccer team after a disappointing season.  He believes he can turn things around, but they instead inform him that he is fired.  He is given the “option,” the other being out of coaching entirely, to go to American Samoa to be their new skipper.  This is made all the worse since his wife Gail (Elisabeth Moss), from whom he is separated, is on the board that makes this decision for his career.  Thus, with plenty of alcohol to accompany him, he flies to the tiny South Pacific American island territory.  He is immediately bewildered, particularly when he is interviewed as soon as he lands simply for being new to the atoll.  The cameraman, by the way, is Tavita.  Because there are so few that live in the American Samoa, people perform many different jobs.  Tavita takes Thomas to the home prepared for him, and the next day to his first practice.  Aside from the bewildering culture Thomas encounters, he also does not take the team seriously.  This is reinforced when a transgender player, Jaiyah Saelua (Kaimana), arrives late for the drills.  Thomas takes Jaiyah for a woman, and is even more confused and incredulous when the situation is explained to him.  Because of Thomas’ poor attitude, most of the team form a poor opinion of him.  With this, and the fact that he does not want to be there, he decides after a few days to quit.  However, in talking to Gail, he learns that he essentially has no choice but to stay.  Tavita also gives some local wisdom about Samoan ways that helps Thomas not only realize how better to get through to them, but also some insights about himself.  Finally, he gets some encouragement from Jaiyah, who is willing to forgive Thomas’ earlier rude behavior.  Jaiyah goes on to become a major asset for Thomas, helping him find some more talent on the island for their team.  The one who continues to elude them is Nicky Salapu (Uli Latufefu). Despite being the goal-keeper that let in all thirty-one goals to Australia, he is still the best player in American Samoa.  Nonetheless, they complete their few weeks of training feeling pretty good about themselves and head to face Tonga in the next World Cup Qualifier.  On the eve of the match, though, the same group that let Thomas go come to inform him that they are shutting down American Samoa soccer.  Believing that he must win order to keep the team alive, he goes into the next day reverting to a number of antics that had originally put off his current squad, and had gotten him fired from Team USA.  At halftime, with his squad down 1-0 and him having a fit on the sidelines, he decides once again that he is going to quit.  This time, when Tavita catches up with him in the hallway, the president tells the coach that he understands they are going to lose, but that they should do so together.  It stops Thomas in his tracks, and he goes back to the locker room to talk to the team.  In doing so, he admits that he is as much of a loser as they are, and that it stems from the loss of his daughter Nicole (Kaitlyn Dever).  The team rallies around him, and once more soccer is a game.  With this new perspective, American Samoa goes out and scores not just one, but two goals to win the match.  We next see everyone back on the island, having lost their next game.  Thomas is grateful to them, as they are to him, but he informs them that he is moving on from coaching to see what else life has to offer.

Thus far, Next Goal Wins has not received great reviews from critics, and I am not sure why this is the case.  However, I can speculate with the best of them.  My theory is that, on the surface, the movie is not as “weird” or “quirky,” to put it more lightly, as we are used to seeing from Waititi.  Yet, I think what is happening is that he is presenting Pacific Islander culture broadly as being the strange component.  Being from New Zealand, he can speak with some authority on the matter.  At the same time, I could not tell you how distinct is American Samoan culture from any other of the thousands of islands that dot the South Pacific.  There is a funny reference to the independent country of Samoa having a more uppity population than American Samoa.  Still, the joke there is not flattering, basically asking how different can they all be?  I am sure the differences would matter to the people that live in those places.  It points to a problem of stereotyping, which is a difficult hurdle for any comedy to clear.  To an outsider, a different culture can seem odd because their customs are not what we are used to practicing.  I would not go so far as to say the depiction of American Samoa is insulting, but it does push that boundary.

Speaking of poking fun at a culture different from our own, there is one key aspect of Next Goal Wins that stood out for this Catholic.  The first clue comes at the beginning with the priest, who looks like a lunatic.  We see the rest of American Samoa through Thomas’ eyes, and one of his early experiences comes when the entire island stops in the middle of the day to pray.  This is a real practice on the island called Fa’a, where a curfew or “Sa” is imposed at the end of the day.  They then observe a period of time when they turn their attention to God.  It has its roots before the arrival of Christian missionaries, but this introduction is significant.  Most of the time, we look at these interactions as negative.  The Catholic Church in the popular view is responsible for the destruction of traditions across the world.  American Samoa suggests a different version of what is also a stereotype.  As Catholic missionaries more often did, they interpreted native lore through the lens of God.  This is important because God is either who He says He is, and Lord over all, or we Christians are wasting our time.  This means that while Jesus became man near Jerusalem, people in other parts of the world carried on with their lives until the time came when the Word finally reached them.  The Church is the one Christian sect of which I am aware that has taken this historical reality into account.  While to this day, the majority of those on American Samoa belong to some protestant sect, the biggest Christian group as a whole are Catholics.  Whatever the statistical breakdown is, ninety-eight percent of the population are Christian, and they proudly proclaim their nation to be such.  At the same time, they keep alive many of their ancient customs and their language, which proves that the two can co-exist.

I know I have spent some time talking about how Next Goal Wins over-simplifies American Samoan culture for the sake of comedy.  However, I did enjoy it, and would cautiously recommend it.  Whatever it is, I am willing to bet that I probably like it more than The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes.