Goal! The Dream Begins

Inspirational and with spirit to spare

Santiago Munez is a 10 year old boy escaping with his father across the Mexican border looking for a new life in America. He spends his boyhood and his teenage years watching his father and eventually helping him eek out a life as a gardener with the dream of eventually owning their own company truck. Living under the radar as illegal aliens, the family can only hope to keep to themselves and find their little part of the American dream. He has one hope of rising above it all, soccer.

At a local soccer tournament, an ex-scout for the English football team Newcastle United catches a spark of talent in the young kid and promises him a tryout with the team if he ever makes it to England. With newfound motivation, he does everything he can to get to England. Goal!: The Dream Begins is the story of Santiago’s search for a better life.

Cue the inspirational sweeping music, the motivational montages, and the growing odds that seem insurmountable only to be overcome with a last minute triumph. Wait a minute; I know this movie has been done many times and that using sports as a method of overcoming all odds is not exactly groundbreaking stuff, but bear with me. (Cue sappy music) these movies are much more about how the viewer feels than about anything actually happening onscreen. Although this film does have all of the “inspirational movies” clichés I listed above and more, and I found myself rolling my eyes a few times, but by the end of the movie I felt a little twinge and a spring in my step as I walked out of the theater.

If you’ve seen one of these films, you have seen them all really. Occasionally, one of these films catches on and stands out above the rest. Will this one? No, probably not. The clichés are laid on a little too thick, but in the end most of these movies are just about pulling the emotion out of a pretty formulaic movie anyways. If you are looking for Shakespeare or the next great indie film, you are in the wrong place. I walked out of the theater feeling a little hopeful and pretty with myself. I think that was all I could really expect.


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