What The Critics Say

"If you want an entertaining story with a heart of gold that the whole family can enjoy, this is it. "Goal!" kicks the ball out of the park." Mark Beirne yourMovies "...it will certainly draw its audience from the many young aspiring football fans and their parents that live vicariously through them." Jaimie Leonarder SBS THE MOVIE SHOW "Surprisingly, there is very little soccer action, although that featured is an energetic experience that does get the audience directly behind the ball." Lachlan Marks FILMINK "It’s an uplifting story that will appeal to older children as well as to adults, even those of a non-sporting mind. Santiago’s persistence and strong moral fibre will make him a good role model for boys." YOUNG MEDIA AUSTRALIA "Hollywood has churned out countless rags-to-riches sports movies over the years, but the soccer-themed "Goal!" is one of the better ones." Mark Beirne yourMovies This is an uplifting and heartfelt tale about a dreamer who gets his chance to realise it through hardship and determination. "Goal! is more ambitious. It's the first in a proposed trilogy and with this year's World Cup in mind, it's aiming to, well, take on the world. Accordingly, there's an international angle." Sandra Hall SYDNEY MORNING HERALD "The result is a slick and predictable can-do story, the first of a trilogy that will finish up at the 2006 World Cup in Germany. As a marketing exercise, Goal! is inspired." Vicki Roach ENTERTAINMENT NEWS "I have to admit that I wasn't expecting a lot of this movie because it seemed like the old story of the poor kid from elsewhere who is a passionate, talented, soccer freak who makes it big in the England major league... but I was pleasantly surprised. Interestingly enough this film is only Part One of a trilogy, with Part Two due in time for this year's World Cup in July. BRUCE REDMAN 612 ABC

The Inside Story

"Goal is pitched as a classic rags to riches sports movie, it's shamelessly formulaic, pitched at football followers from twelve to eighty and not afraid to jerk the tears." THE DEEP END

If you love a 'feel good' movie then "Goal!' is the film for you. Forget the football [soccer] theme because there's more to this film than kicking the round ball all over the pitch. Just as the round ball game is a giant in the sporting world, getting "Goal!" to the bigscreen was a giant operation. Producers Mike Jefferies and Matt Barrelle say they were surprised Hollywood "hadn’t yet spawned a great football movie." The 'yanks' might well dispute that assumption. After all, they arrogantly claim, like many minor sports on the world stage do, that their football, Gridiron, has been featured in a number of films. That's something 'aussies' might also dispute because they too claim their brand of football, Australian Rules is the 'real football' and that it too has already featured in a number of films. In fact both are wrong. The real deal is the game known to most people as 'soccer', a truly international sport played the world over and attracting a television audience of around two billion viewers each week. Of course 'soccer' has been featured on the big screen before most recently in the highly popular "Bend It Like Beckham" which focussed on women playing competitive football, "Mean Machine" which featured male prisoners playing a team of wardens and "Purely Belter" which featured two dedicated Newcastle United fans "on a quest for the holy grail, two season tickets to see their beloved team play". Finally someone in the USA woke up to the fact that it was high time Hollywood got in on the act. After all Hollywood has covered every sport known to man with the exception of marbles, Yak milking and 'soccer'. "We’ve seen a myriad of tremendously successful films that use sport as a backdrop, films about baseball, basketball, golf, you name it, and it just seemed incredible to me that the world's biggest sport and, in fact, the biggest form of content on television today, has never been the subject of a decent movie," says Mike Jefferies. The 2002 World Cup in Japan inspired the men to further explore their idea. They worked for another year researching the movie industry and then brought American Danny Stepper in on the venture. "It seemed like a no-brainer to us," Jefferies explained. "If we could make a film that resonated on a dramatic level about this kid’s story, and create something really engaging that has appeal beyond a sporting audience, so that it can cross over demographics, territory, gender, we’d have something really exciting." After further discussions on their idea, Jefferies and Barrelle arranged to meet with officials of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association [FIFA]. "Doing a deal with FIFA was incredibly important to us, and doing deals with the teams and actual players was critical as well," explains Barrelle. "We wanted to use real teams because the fans really know what’s going on, and football fans are obviously the most fanatic fans in the world. You can’t cheat them. We didn’t want to do that, and hopefully you’ll see that on the screen." So, which team features in "Goal!"? Newcastle United of course. Why ? "Newcastle appealed to us for many different reasons," says Mike Jefferies. "They’ve got very passionate, devoted fans. It’s like a religion up there. They’ve got a tremendous stadium, and they’re known for very attacking football. We also met our creative requirements in that the city’s very cinematic." Now all they needed to do was get the support of the management and the team at Newcastle United. "They understand the commercial aspects of boosting the brand, the more money they have, the more money they can spend on players. The better players they have, the more they win. They understood what a Hollywood film could do for Newcastle United," says Barrelle. "We made a deal pretty quickly with them." And how much support was forthcoming? "Newcastle and FIFA put every resource at our disposal," Jefferies said. The film got underway with Michael Winterbottom in the Directors chair. That led to a change when the production team decided they needed a product with wider scope than a documentary style film. They brought "CSI" Director, 36-year old Brit Danny Cannon onboard. "Professional football players impress me enormously," Cannon, who grew up in Luton explains. "They always have, even when I was a kid. They are brilliant at what they do." Next on the list was finding the right screenwriters. That job fell to the the Emmy and BAFTA winning team of Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais. "We understand the city where it’s set," says La Frenais, who grew up in the City of Newcastle. "We understand what football means in a sociological sense. We get it." With the writerson board the next big hurdle was finding the right actor to play Santiago. "We wanted to cast somebody that wasn’t already a huge superstar," Matt Barrelle said. "It was also really important for us to find a guy who looked like an athlete, was a very good actor, and had that Hispanic/Spanish/Argentinean/Mexican look for his heritage. We also wanted someone who had a charismatic presence on camera, and who looked really innocent. Santiago comes across as very cheeky and innocent in the film, which is really important." It would mean auditioning a large number of Hispanic actors because unlike some other production, they didn't want a real footballer in the lead role. "We auditioned Hispanic actors, all of whom could play football," says Jefferies. "It was tough out there! We were very, very lucky to find Kuno. He was a perfect mix for us." But did they really make the right choice? Stepper says, "from what the girls tell me, he’s a pretty good-looking kid. He’s a great choice for us." But he had skills too right? It wasn't all just about looks? "Nobody works harder than Kuno. He trained hard, played hard, rehearsed over and over and brought so much of himself to the part. He has an extraordinary talent. You haven’t heard of him yet, but you won’t be able to stop talking about him. Star quality. Completely," says director Danny Cannon. In fact twenty seven year old Kuno worked so hard at the film that he ended up bruised, battered and broke both his ankles. Now that's commitment! "It’s been crazy," Kuno says. "I learned so much every day. We tried to make it look as real as possible." There's no denying that on this aspect the filmmakers and cast really did get it right. There's a 'real deal' feel about "Goal!". Anna Friel, who plays Santiago’s love interest quickly realized the burden Kuno carried with the lead role. "I felt for Kuno as soon as I met him, because I knew it was a huge undertaking to come to a different country when he doesn’t know anyone, and to go straight to Newcastle and be put with all the real players to train,"she says. "It’s incredibly daunting for anybody, and I think he’s handled it incredibly well. And he doesn’t complain, he’s one of the few actors you’ll ever meet that literally will never moan about anything. It’s very admirable." A rising star and a love interest; now all they needed was the obligatory sports bad boy to balance the lead roles out. The role went to American actor Alessandro Nivola. He plays the new signing at the club. Of his character Nivola says, "I’m a very expensive player, with expensive tastes and a habitually wild attitude toward my career and my personal life." Was there more to Gavin? "Gavin provides a sort of bad education for Santiago, but he also has real respect for the guy’s talent and he keeps sticking his neck out for him. Gavin is one of those people who often do the right thing by accident which makes for a lot of comic situations. He has a combination of mischief, charm and the ability to get away with murder and have people still like him," Nivola added. There's much, much more behind the story of the making of "Goal!" but unfortunately too much for this review to contain. Let me just add weight to the praise for the actors, sctresses and the production team. It's a delightful, feel-good story with universal appeal with plans for two sequels. The question is why see a film about fantasy when you can see the 'real deal' on the telly? "You can watch football and soccer on TV any day," says Kuno Becker. "This film is more about telling a story. Even if you don’t like football it doesn’t matter because you’re going to like the film. It’s a story about universal feelings." Screenwrite Dick Clement sums it up this way; "Everybody understands the story of a kid coming from nowhere, dragged out of his environment and being a fish out of water," says . "Everybody understands what is at stake, what Santiago is aiming for." The 'dream', That's what the real attraction is in "Goal!".After all. we all once had 'a dream'. Cast & Crew Bytes "GOAL!" stars .......
Kuno Becker ["Isla Bella", "Imagining Argentina", "The Nomad" and "Lucia, Lucia"]; 1995 Richard Burton Shakespeare Globe Award; 2000 Theatre World Award; 2000 Tony Award and 1999/2000 Drama Desk Award winner Stephen Dillane ["Two If By Sea", "Welcome to Sarajevo", "Ordinary Decent Criminal" and "The Hours"]; Alessandro Nivola’s ["Face/Off", "Jurassic Park 3", "Laurel Canyon" and "The Clearing"]; National Television Best Actress Award, 1999 Drama Desk and 2002 Helen Hayes Award winner Anna Friel ["The Tribe", "Rogue Trader", "Timeline" and "Irish Jam"]; Sean Pertwee ["The Prophesy", "Dog Soldiers", "Equilibrium" and "Event Horizon"]; Marcel Iures ["Hart’s War", "Interview with the Vampire", "Mission Impossible", "The Peacemaker" and "Layer Cake"] and Miriam Colon ["All the Pretty Horses", "Gloria", "Sabrina" and "Scarface"] as Mercedes.
"GOAL!" was .......
directed by Danny Cannon ["The Young Americans", "Judge Dredd", "Phoenix" and "I Still Know What You Did Last Summer"]; screenplay by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais ["Still Crazy", "Excess Baggage" and "The Commitments"]; production design by Laurence Dorman ["Asylum", "Silent Cry", "Milk" and "Young Adam"]; Director of Photography ASC Award winner Michael Barrett ["The Suburbans", "Skeletons In The Cupboard", "Lone Star State Of Mind" and "Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang"]; original music by Vienna Film Festival Award and 2005 BMI Richard Kirk Career Achievement Award recipient Graeme Revell ["Dead Calm", "The Crow", "The Hand That Rocks the Cradle", "Chinese Box", "The Negotiator", "The Insider" and "Collateral Damage"] produced by Mike Jefferies ["Goal!"] and Matt Barrelle ["Goal!"]. What It's All About

"Get ready to hear more about Mexican television heartthrob Kuno Becker, the star of Goal!" Louise Keller URBANCINEFILE

After entering the United States as an illegal immigrant at the age of ten, Santiago Munez now works with his father cleaning pools and maintaining other peoples yards in Los Angeles. One thing he has never lost is his passion for football. His ability is uncovered when former player and talent scout Glen Foy attends a junior match his grandson is participating in and later spots Santiago playing in a local match. Realizing the young lad has something special he arranges for a US based talent scout to attend Santiago's next match. When the scout fails to show, Glen rings Newcastle United boss Erik Dornhelm and extracts from him the promise of a trial if Santiago comes to the UK. Santiago's father, Herman Munez, is not impressed. He sees his son's future with him, a partner in the business. He tells Santiago, "There are two types of people in this world. People in big houses, and people like us who cut their lawns and wash their cars." That is not the sons dream. He wants more from life. Working two jobs, Santiago finally saves enough money for the flight which he hopes will set his life on the pathway to fulfilling his dream. The dream is shattered when his father takes the money and buys a new truck. Then his Grandmother offers him a lifeline. She too has saved hard. She gives him a ticket and money. Santiago must leave immediately, before his father returns home. He must follow his destiny. This is his chance and he must take it. The Verdict "One of the best feel good movies in a long while. "Goal!" is a generous, goodnatured and uplifting film that will surprise and delight even those who are not fans of the round ball game, the real game, football. "Goal!" is more than living the dream, it's about realizing the dream. With the World Cup just around the corner, the timing could not have been better. Watch for the sequel. Recommended viewing. Who's Who?

Kuno Becker Alessandro Nivola Stephen Dillane Anna Friel Marcel Iures Sean Pertwee Lee Ross Stephen Graham Kevin Knapman Kieran O’Brien Cassandra Bell Tony Plana Miriam Colon

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Santiago Munez Glen Foy Gavin Harris Roz Harmison Erik Dornhelm Barry Rankin Bluto Des Jamie Drew Hughie Magowan Christina Herman Munez Mercedes

The Crew Directed by Danny Cannon Produced by Mike Jefferies & Matt Barrelle Written by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais Director of Photography Michael Barrett A.S.C Production Design by Laurence Dorman Costume Design by Lindsay Pugh Original Music Composed by Graeme Revell Football consultant/choreographer Andy Ansah Run Time 118 minutes Rated PG [AUST] Copyright ©2006 - Roadshow Films - All Rights Reserved Copyright Protected © 2006 - Impact Internet Services - All Rights Reserved