Usually, when an animated film comes out in the theater, I pray that there is a feature aimed at adults appearing at the same time so that I safely avoid a film like GOAT.  Luckily, for that weekend there was the underwhelming Crime 101.  Even if it did not live up to what I hoped it would be, it meant that I could momentarily ignore GOAT.  Yet, one night recently I turned on Netflix and there it was at the top of the listings.  Thus, with a roll of my eyes and sighing “fine” under my breath, I put it on the television.  This is already not off to the most Catholic of starts, but it is a bunch of silliness anyway.

Maybe silly is the wrong word to use when talking about the beginning of GOAT.  The young title animal, Will Harris (voiced by Luke Cimity), is a fan of Vineland’s “roarball” team, the Thorns, like the rest of the anthropomorphic animal fans in this environment specific town.  Roarball, by the way, is basketball, but because it is played by four-legged beings on courts that morph with the conditions, they have to change the name of the sport, I guess.  Specifically, Will adores the Thorns star player, Jett Fillmore (voiced by Gabrielle Union).  Because of the kid’s (look it up) enthusiasm, Will is overjoyed when his mother, Louise Harris (voiced by Jennifer Hudson), gets them tickets to watch Jett and her teammates play in person.  The gesture, along with mom’s encouragement, feed Will’s dream of becoming the first “small” to play in a league dominated by those higher on the food chain.  We then fast forward about ten years or so.  Louise has passed away, but Will (voiced by Caleb McLaughlin) has not given up on the goal of making it in the league.  However, such motivation does not pay the rent, literally.  He leases a room barely large enough to stretch out in, which makes sense since his landlord is a gerbil, Frank (voiced by Wayne Knight).  Will has not paid Frank in many months, and the latter is beginning to get antsy for what is due.  It is Will’s friends who continue to encourage his playing, and they are the ones who tell him that famed roarball horse (literally), Mane Attraction (voiced by Aaron Pierre), is taking on challengers at “The Cage.”  It is the court where the sport was invented.  Despite warnings of an imminent eviction, and having earned enough money from selling a pair of prized sneakers, Will puts all his money down on a game against Mane.  Although the eponymous character gets out to an early lead with moves that cause the stallion to stumble, Mane gets the ball and wins.  Will loses his cash and comes home to someone else sleeping in his room.  His friends welcome him in and have put his best moves online despite the loss.  The creature who notices Will’s skills is Florence “Flo” Everson (voiced by Jenifer Lewis), the warthog owner of the Thorns.  Under her tenure, the Thorns have been mired in losing, and Jett is frustrated with Flo for not bringing in better players.  Because every movie needs a villain, Flo’s noncommitment to winning means that she is only looking for an opportunity to be greedy and sell the team.  The losing does not help the franchise’s value, but she sees an opportunity when the video of Will’s play goes viral.  Hence, the next day she goes to the diner where Will works and signs the unbelieving grazer to a contract.  The signing gets the media attention she hopes for, and one of the first to notice it is Jett.  The Thorn’s self-appointed leader has an angry discussion with Flo about Will that goes largely ignored by the owner.  Instead, Jett is forced to introduce Will to reporters, and it is clear the star does not expect the new addition to last.  The next person Will meets is the Thorns’ superfluous coach, a monkey named Dennis Cooper (voiced by Patton Oswalt).  He might as well not be there because it is Jett who calls the shots and determines who plays.  Given that she is against Will’s presence, Jett keeps the rookie on the bench despite his eagerness.  What finally gets Will into a game is Jett committing too many fouls, forcing her to take a seat.  In comes Will, and would you believe it?  He makes the last second shot to win the contest, of course.  Though she remains unimpressed, he continues to try to win her over, and it comes with them practicing together when they return to Vineland.  This extends to an invitation to go out on the town, with him taking her to the diner.  The jaunt makes her realize how much people in the city appreciate her despite the recent lack of wins.  It also gets her to see her team differently, and they begin to change their losing ways.  The Thorns take their streak into the playoffs, getting them to the semi-finals.  However, before that penultimate game, Flo informs Jett that the team is up for sale.  Additionally, everyone but Jett will be cut.  Will overhears the exchange, but Jett tells him to keep quiet.  Instead, enraged by Flo’s machinations, Jett takes over the game and does not include her teammates.  The victory allows them to keep playing, this time for a championship, but the rest quit because of her selfishness.  Still, she is big enough to admit her mistake, and starting with Will, gets all the Thorns back together by apologizing.  The final matchup is against Mane’s squad, predictably, with an equally predictable outcome.  In other words, if you guess that the Thorns lose, you would be wrong.  The last scene is them celebrating in front of all the residents of Vineland.

All the residents of Vineland in GOAT represent all manner of animal life, except for fish.  Where are all the fish?  Who knows?  Who cares?  It is all confusing, especially when there are jokes about the creatures eating one another.  Is this a thing that happens?  Yet, the only food we see them consuming is of the vegetable variety.  As such, can you blame me for calling it silly?  At the same time, not all the themes are silly.  As a Catholic watching this, a natural aspect to focus on would be Will’s diminutive size compared to all the other players like Mane.  There are Biblical parallels after all, the most obvious one being David and Goliath (1 Samuel 17).  God often uses the meekest of instruments, like a Nazorean carpenter, to humble the mighty.  However, instead of repeating that clichéd but important lesson, I will instead draw your attention to Jett.  She reverts to her former diva ways in the semi-final because she senses the end of her career and a potential threat to her legacy.  What she does not realize is that these are all things that she cannot control.  God did not give us the ability to make people see us in the manner in which we want to be viewed, though this has failed to stop many from trying to do exactly that over the years.  The current president, for instance, is quite sensitive about perceived slights to his character.  When such people feel threatened, they do things that they believe will feed the narrative they desire, but ultimately hurt a great number of people.  Catholicism preaches a different approach, and this is a doctrinal matter.  The end of James 2:26 says, “. . . faith without works is dead,” and this is an Epistle our protestant brothers and sisters have removed.  One way it can be interpreted is that if you want to be known, be known for following God, which can be seen in the good you do.  In the film, the reward is the championship, but Faith has a far great one in Heaven.

I would not call GOAT a rewarding watch.  It has everything one expects not only from the animation, but as a sports film as well.  If there is anything to be praised about it, I suppose it is the art.  Otherwise, this one is a pass for me, no pun intended.