Goal! The Dream Begins (2005)

aka: Goal!

Drama / Action / Adventure

1 hr. 57 min.

Feel-good sports drama features an underprivileged Mexican-American immigrant from Los Angeles who gets a chance to play for one of England's premier soccer clubs.

Rated PG-13 for language, sexual situations, and some thematic material including partying

Directed by: Danny Cannon

Starring: Kuno Becker, Stephen Dillane, Anna Friel, Marcel Iures, Sean Pertwee

Theatrical Release Date: 5/12/2006

Release Type: Limited

U.S. Box Office: $4,280,577

Video/DVD Release Date: 9/12/2006

Distributor: Touchstone Pictures

Country: USA

Language: Mandarin / Spanish / English

Offsite: IMDB | Official Site

CRITIC	RATING	QUOTE
Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert	7	...a rags-to-riches sports saga containing all the usual elements, arranged in the usual ways, and yet it's surprisingly effective.
Chicago Tribune Michael Phillips	7	Goal! The Dream Begins is an inspirational sports movie, but I liked it anyway.
E!	6	...the cast is great and the game-play is energetic, but emotionally, Goal! doesn't score any points.
filmcritic.com Eric Meyerson	4	...a junk pile of wooden performances...
New York Post Kyle Smith	7	...has an awful title, a bland hero and a predictable story - but it also has a nice blast of English atmosphere.
TV Guide Ethan Alter	6	Every plot development can be spotted a mile away and the booming soundtrack helpfully underlines each new conflict. Still, it all turns out to be a modest success because of its cliches rather than in spite of them.
Reel Pam Grady	7	...utterly predictable from the first frame, but nevertheless, a real crowd pleaser.
Slant Magazine Nick Schager	3	An against-all-odds fairy tale of the hoariest kind, Goal! The Dream Begins runs through sports movie clichés with all the subtlety, style, and originality of a kick to the shins.
Entertainment Weekly Gregory Kirschling	6	There's only one thing they don't need to bring back for the sequels, and that's the movie's appetite for every sports cliché there ever was.
New York Times Jeannette Catsoulis	4	...an unfortunate blend of Newcastle grit and Hollywood uplift...
Los Angeles Times Michael Phillips	7	Even the hoariest of its screenwriting conventions gets a fair shake from a good cast.
People Leah Rozen	6	...clichéd but still appealing...
LA Weekly Bill Gallo	5	Not a bad movie, but as familiar as Alex Rodriguez's batting average.
Village Voice Bill Gallo	5	Not a bad movie, but as familiar as Alex Rodriguez's batting average.
Onion AV Club Scott Tobias	6	...works reasonably well in spite of itself...
Maxim Pete Hammond	6	This stirring and triumphant story about believing in yourself is really a movie for anyone who followed a dream. Or anyone who likes sports clichés.

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ALL AVERAGE CRITIC RATING	5.8
AVERAGE USER RATING (0 ratings)	-