"GOAL! THE DREAM BEGINS" (2006) (Kuno Becker, Alessandro Nivola) (PG) Alcohol/ Drugs Blood/Gore Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude Frightening/ Tense Scenes Guns/ Weapons Heavy Minor Heavy Mild None Imitative Behavior Jump Scenes Music (Scary/Tense) Music (Inappropriate) Profanity Mild None Minor None Moderate Sex/ Nudity Smoking Tense Family Scenes Topics To Talk About Violence Moderate Mild Heavy Moderate Moderate QUICK TAKE: Drama: A young, illegal Mexican immigrant travels from Los Angeles to England where he hopes to make it onto the Newcastle United soccer team. PLOT: Ten years after illegally entering the U.S. with his family, Santiago Munez (KUNO BECKER) dreams of living the life of luxury. Yet, he works a number of jobs -- including doing landscaping with his father, Herman (TONY PLANA), while still living with him, his younger brother Julio (ALFREDO RODRIGUEZ) and their grandmother Mercedes (MIRIAM COLON). He finds his escape in playing soccer, but Herman thinks he's wasting his time dreaming anything will ever come of that. Yet, the opportunity presents itself when former English soccer player and pro scout Glen Foy (STEPHEN DILLANE) happens to be in L.A. and sees the young man play. Realizing there's untapped potential within Santiago, Glen tries to get an agent to see him play. When that falls through, he then calls Erik Dornhelm (MARCEL IURES), the German manager of the Newcastle United soccer team and convinces him to give Santiago a tryout. After a number of obstacles and setbacks, Santiago finally arrives in England where he stays with Glen and meets comely nurse Roz Harmison (ANNA FRIEL). He must also deal with veteran player Hughie Magowan (KIERAN O'BRIEN) who wants to put him in his place by roughing him up in practice. At the same time, Santiago commiserates with fellow tryout rookie Jamie Drew (KEVIN KNAPMAN) in watching Dornhelm and trainer Mal Braithwaite (GARY LEWIS) focus their attention on newly signed soccer star Gavin Harris (ALESSANDRO NIVOLA). Given a series of second and third chances to show his stuff, Santiago does what he can to impress Dornhelm, win over Roz and prove his father wrong in that one can pursue and obtain one's dreams with the right amount of perseverance, hard work and luck. WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT? If they're into soccer, or are interested in stories about immigrants in America, they just might. WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: PG For language, sexual situations, and some thematic material including partying. CAST AS ROLE MODELS: KUNO BECKER plays a young man and illegal immigrant in the U.S. who arrived long ago with his father. While he dreams of being a soccer player, he works for his father's lawn care service. When he gets the chance to prove his stuff, he must deal with his father's pessimism as well as a series of setbacks that threaten to derail his attempt. ALESSANDRO NIVOLA plays a spoiled, hard-partying soccer star who's signed on with the team but doesn't contribute much. He eventually changes his ways when he finally befriends Santiago. STEPHEN DILLANE plays a former soccer player and professional scout who just so happens to spot Santiago and witness his skill. He then does what he can to try to get the young man on the team. A widower, he uses some profanity. ANNA FRIEL plays a nurse who falls for Santiago despite her not liking the potential of what fame and fortune can do to people. MARCEL IURES plays the German manager of the team who gives Santiago repeated shots to make the team, and tries to instill the notion of teamwork vs. individualism in him. GARY LEWIS plays the team's trainer and longtime friend of Glen who likewise gives Santiago a shot with the team. KEVIN KNAPMAN plays another rookie who's trying to make the reserve squad. TONY PLANA plays Santiago's traditional-minded father who smuggled his family into the U.S. years ago and has since started and run a lawn care business. He isn't supportive of Santiago's dreams (and is mad at him when he runs off to pursue them) since he doesn't think it's being realistic. KIERAN O'BRIEN plays a teammate who tries to put Santiago in his place by roughing him up during practice. MIRIAM COLON plays Santiago's supportive grandmother who gives him the money and means to pursue his dreams. CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit? Then read OUR TAKE of this film. (Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below). OUR WORD TO PARENTS: The following is a brief summary of the content found in this PG-rated drama. Profanity consists of at least 5 "s" words (and a mouthed "f" word), while other expletives and colorful phrases are used. Sex is implied on a few occasions (we see couples in bed, presumably after the act), while some shapely women are seen in small bikinis. Various characters have varying degrees of bad attitudes, while violence includes purposeful and incidental contact (some of it strong, including being knocked down, getting elbowed, etc.) on the playing field. Characters smoke and/or drink in various scenes, while tense family material includes a parental death and lack of parental support in terms of pursuing one's dreams. Should you still be concerned about the film's appropriateness for yourself or anyone else in your home, you may want to look more closely at our detailed listings for more specific information regarding the film's content. For those concerned with bright flashes of light on the screen, we briefly see some of that from photos being taken at a press conference. There are also some strobe effects in a nightclub. For those prone to visually induced motion sickness, there's a brief spin around shot of Santiago (where he appears stationary and the stadium appears to whip around behind him). ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE Various people drink beer in a bar, including Herman. Miscellaneous people drink. Herman has a beer. Miscellaneous people drink at a reception. Jamie invites Santiago to go out clubbing with him. Santiago wonders how old one must be to drink in England, briefly perplexing Jamie who throws out the number 11 as his answer (since there's no drinking age there). Miscellaneous people drink in a club where Santiago, Jamie, Roz and her friend also have drinks. Jamie mentions something about his dad being on the booze. Miscellaneous people drink in a stadium. Miscellaneous people drink in a bar. It sounded like Mal asked Santiago if he was high (regarding his problems during a scrimmage -- that were actually caused by an asthma attack). People drink in a nightclub including Gavin and his agent. Miscellaneous fans drink in a bar. People drink in a club and we then see the same in yet another club. We see a beer in front of Gavin and he then goes and retrieves another. We see fans drinking in several different bars while watching the match. BLOOD/GORE Santiago has some "blood pudding" (blood sausage) in a restaurant where a local tells him he doesn't want to know what's in it. Hughie jokes that he was in Mexico once and "got the sh*tes" for a week. We briefly see a cup of urine in a doctor's office for a physical. Roz says she's going to take some blood from Santiago for his physical, and we see the needle already inserted into his arm, but don't see any related blood. We see Jamie's bad looking knee in the hospital (it's swollen and red and simply doesn't look right following some sort of bad injury to it). DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE Some could view Santiago and his family as having bad attitudes for being illegal immigrants in the U.S. An agent lies to Glen about coming to watch Santiago play and then lies about being in a meeting while he's really lounging in a pool. Herman is not supportive of Santiago's dreams and we learn that Herman stole Santiago's saved money to buy a new truck for their lawn service business (saying that Santiago is now his partner, but Santiago is upset and yells "It's your life, not mine!"). Santiago lies to Roz about having asthma (he says he has no problem). During more tryout sessions, Hughie tackles (in a soccer fashion) Santiago quite hard, causing Santiago to grab him. Hughie then spits in Santiago's face, with Santiago then pushing or punching Hughie before they're separated. Hughie purposefully stomps down on Santiago's inhaler, meaning the latter must play while having an asthma attack. Gavin comes out and finds that someone has stolen the wheels/tires off his car. Gavin's agent tells someone on the phone, "What's cool and hangs up?" just as he hangs up on them. We see who we believe is Gavin in bed with another woman than his girlfriend (they're asleep in the "spoons" position with the woman showing some cleavage). Gavin gets mad at Santiago for being told how to live his life and thus kicks Santiago out of his place. Spoiler Alert: Looking for his dad, Julio spots him lying motionless on the ground and races to his side. Santiago then gets a phone call that his father died of a heart attack. After planning on returning home, he decides not to as he's still mad at his dad for not supporting his dream. FRIGHTENING SCENES We see young Santiago's family hurrying off in the middle of the night to cross the Mexican border into the U.S. As a border patrol vehicle approaches (and warns them to stop), his family and others scurry through a fence, with Herman yelling at his son to leave his soccer ball and come with them (he does). Spoiler Alert: Looking for his dad, Julio spots him lying motionless on the ground and races to his side. Santiago then gets a phone call that his father died of a heart attack. After planning on returning home, he decides not to as he's still mad at his dad for not supporting his dream. GUNS/WEAPONS None. IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR Occasionally thick accents as well as slang prevented us from fully hearing and/or understanding all of the dialogue, so the following should be considered a minimum. Phrases: "Clogging the sh*te out of each other," "You're sh*te," "Who the heck do you think you are?" "It's bull-snot," "Quite tasty," what sounded like "She's a crock of leg," "Pinhead," "You German twit," "Boneheads," "He's a slippery bugger," "Loser," "What the hell are you doing with him?" "You're screwing up your life," "Greaseball" and "Push off" (leave). We see that Santiago has a tattoo on his arm, while we later see that Gavin has one on his shoulder. Hughie purposefully stomps down on Santiago's inhaler, meaning the latter must play while having an asthma attack. Gavin's agent tells someone on the phone, "What's cool and hangs up?" just as he hangs up on them. JUMP SCENES None. MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE) A bit of dramatic music plays in the film. MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE) None. PROFANITY Occasionally thick accents as well as slang prevented us from fully hearing and/or understanding all of the dialogue, so the following should be considered a minimum: At least 1 mouthed "f" word, 5 "s" words (said as "sh*te"), 2 asses, 1 hell and 1 use each of "For God's sakes" and "Oh God." SEX/NUDITY Occasionally thick accents as well as slang prevented us from fully hearing and/or understanding all of the dialogue, so the following dialogue entries should be considered a minimum. We twice briefly and partially see a poster on Santiago's closet door of a woman in a swimsuit (but the view is only when he opens the door and that's in dimly lit scenes, so it's hard to tell exactly what we're seeing). We briefly see some shapely women in small bikinis by a pool (cleavage and lots of skin are visible). Commenting on how hard he used to work in Mexico, Herman says he cleaned brothels at night. We briefly see Santiago in just his boxers. We see some miscellaneous cleavage in a club. Roz shows some cleavage in several scenes in various outfits. We see Santiago shirtless in the locker room. Santiago and Roz do some passionate kissing while seated on a sofa. The film then fakes us out to think the next scene is showing them in bed, but it's really Gavin and his girlfriend (or perhaps another woman as we only see her arm). We see Roz in a very short skirt and very tall boots. We see Gavin shirtless in his place. The camera briefly focuses on some clothed, dancing bodies in a nightclub. We see who we believe is Gavin in bed with another woman than his girlfriend (they're asleep in the "spoons" position with the woman showing some cleavage). Gavin's girlfriend shows cleavage. We see that photos were taken of Santiago at a party where he's seen cavorting with several women (all clothed and nothing explicit occurring). SMOKING A few miscellaneous people smoke in several scenes. TENSE FAMILY SCENES Herman is not supportive of Santiago's dreams and we learn that Herman stole Santiago's saved money to buy a new truck for their lawn service business (saying that Santiago is now his partner, but Santiago is upset and yells "It's your life, not mine!"). Herman comments on his wife (and the boy's mother) walking out on the family in the past. We hear that Glen's wife died a few years ago from cancer. Herman is mad at Santiago for having left without saying he was doing so. Roz implies that her father left in the past (with Santiago saying it was his mother who did so for him). Herman does not wish to talk to Santiago on the phone (while still mad at him). Spoiler Alert: Looking for his dad, Julio spots him lying motionless on the ground and races to his side. Santiago then gets a phone call that his father died of a heart attack. After planning on returning home, he decides not to as he's still mad at his dad for not supporting his dream. TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT Pursuing one's dreams. Why parents often downplay their kids' dreams. Illegal immigrants. Julio mentions attaining the American dream by winning the lottery. The fact that Santiago has asthma and tries to hide that from Roz and the team (fearing they would turn him down if they knew). Herman telling Santiago to keep his feet on the ground rather than his head in the sky. We hear that Glen's wife died a few years ago from cancer. The comment that the (team) name on the front of the jersey is more important than the (personal) one on the back. The thought of fame corrupting people. VIOLENCE During a tryout in the rain and mud, there's some hard physical contact among players, particularly with Hughie purposefully running into and/or knocking over Santiago. During more tryout sessions, Hughie tackles (in a soccer fashion) Santiago quite hard, causing Santiago to grab him. Hughie then spits in Santiago's face, with Santiago then pushing or punching Hughie before they're separated. Hughie purposefully stomps down on Santiago's inhaler, meaning the latter must play while having an asthma attack. There's contact during a tryout/game. Hughie finally stands up for Santiago (because his sister likes the rookie) and violently contacts an opposing player after that man did the same to Santiago moments earlier. During a match, one player strikes another in the face with his elbow. There's more hard contact during a match. Reviewed April 24, 2006 / Posted May 12, 2006

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