Goal! - The Dream Begins
by Danny Cannon
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DVD details
Actor: Alessandro Nivola, Anna Friel, Kuno Becker, Leonardo Guerra, Tony PlanaDirector: Danny Cannon
Brand: Team Marketing
Producer: Allen Hopkins
Producer: Chris Ouwinga
Producer: Danny Stepper
Writer: Adrian Butchart
Writer: Dick Clement
Writer: Ian La Frenais
Writer: Mike Jefferies
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 5.1; Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; Spanish (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0
Format: Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.40:1
Running Time: 118 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2006-09-12
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Touchstone / Disney
Product features:
- Like the inspiring heroes in MIRACLE, REMEMBER THE TITANS, and THE ROOKIE, the amazingly gifted Santiago Mu ez, a young immigrant living in the barrios of Los Angeles, has an impossible dream -- to play soccer for a world team. Unexpectedly getting a tryout with one of England's premier soccer clubs, Newcastle United, Santiago finds himself totally alone in a world where soccer is a religion a
DVD Reviews of Goal! - The Dream Begins
DVD Review: Warm & entertaining . . . it also offers some interesting life lessons!
Summary: 4 Stars
I am not a football fan, although I had been to a real foot-ball stadium, & that was about thirty years ago. It was in Dortmund, West Germany, where I was undergoing factory training with O & K Orenstein Kopel AG.
A German service engineer had invited me to watch a foot-ball match between the home team & a team from Munich, during one weekend. I can't recall who won, but to me that was the first & the last time I had seen a real foot-ball game.
Since I am not a football fan, I don't watch the EPL or World Cup on television. In fact, I just don't understand why people can get so frenzy with watching foot-ball matches on television.
The last time I had seen a foot-ball match on television was while watching the action movie, 'Escape to Victory'. It starred Sylvester Stallone & Michael Caine, plus a handful of real-world foot-ballers - Pele, Bobby Moore - I could not recognise the others.
The movie was about a foot-ball match between a ragtag group of Allied prisoners & a German foot-ball team, which the Nazis had originally planned to promote as a propaganda event during WWII. To the chagrin of their German captors, the Allied prisoners had used the closing of the game as a brilliant escape with the spectators.
Last night, after channel surfing, & also checking out the synopsis, I finally settled down to watch a movie entitled 'Goal! The Dream Begins'.
Frankly, all the actors or actress in the movie were unknown, at least to me, with the exception of Tony Plana, whom I last saw as the prison warden in the action movie, 'Half Past Dead', opposite Steven Seagal, who played an undercover agent.
In a nutshell, the movie traced the exploits of a young Mexican immigrant, Santiago Nunez (played by Huno Decker, a Latin American actor) from Los Angeles, working in the building maintenance crew with his divorced father (played by Tony Plana).
He often dreamed of becoming an international foot-ball star. In fact, he spent most of his evenings in street-corner matches.
One day, while dribbling with his ball, he was spotted by Glen, a visiting talent scout from UK, who was a retired foot-ball player with Premiership Club Newcastle United.
Glen called his ex-boss/club manager, Erik, to inform him of his talent finding. Erik agreed to give the young man an opportunity, & Glen invited Santiago to come to UK.
Santiago's hard-headed father was dead against the whole idea, as he believed that the entire family could only made it through hard-work by setting up their own building maintenance business. To discourage the son, the father even snatched part of the son's own meagre savings to pump into the new business.
Fortunately, his grand-mother was supportive of his dreams, & managed to get him an air-ticket & some cash to fly to UK via Mexico city.
Upon arrival, he got in touch with Glen, who invited him to stay in his private home. Glen then arranged for him to go for his "screen test" under the watchful eye of Erik.
It was raining heavily that fateful day, & the foot-ball grounds were a muddy mess, & so poor Santiago flunked his first "screen test".
Glen pleaded to Erik to give the young man a chance. Santiago got one month to prove himself.
At this point, the movie traced his trials & tribulations as a rookie in the premiership club. As usual in most movies, he also got romantically entangled with a beautiful nurse. He also got teamed up with another newly recruited footballer, Gavin, from Germany.
The latter was a night owl & party animal, who introduced him to the booze, the parties, the clubbing, & the women, often associated with the decadent lifestyle of foot-ball stars we read in the papers.
Santiago (as well as Gavin) almost got kicked out of the club, if not for the unwavering support of Glen, the nurse/girl-friend, the coach, & of course, the club manager/boss, Erik, who truly saw the raw talent in the young man.
It was quite fun to watch Erik showing the young man the importance of being a team player in a club, & sharing some important pointers about game discipline.
I like one particular confrontation dialogue between Erik & Santiago, who uttered: "The only one who can tell me I'm not good enough is you. And even then I may not agree with you."
Of course, the movie ended with a critical match in London, where both Santiago & Gavin finally demonstrated their natural ballistic prowess with their heads & legs.
I have really enjoyed watching the movie. Despite some minor technical goofs here & there, & from an overall standpoint, it has been entertaining & warm to watch. Interestingly, David Beckham had a cameo role in the movie.
For me, it also has many interesting learning points.
In the course of pursuing our fondest dreams, one should always remember all the people who cared, especially those who have extended their encouragement &/or help in one way or another as we move forward.
In the case of Santiago, his grand-mother, his mentor in the person of Glen, his girl-friend, his coach in the club, & of course, the club manager/boss, Erik, all played their contributing part in his journey to personal success.
Even his hard-headed father, who often refused to acknowledge the son's phone calls whenever the latter had called home, had drilled into him the importance of standing up for himself, with no excuses whatsoever.
In fact, the father was very proud of his son, when he happened to witness one of his son's foot-ball matches on television, while visiting a local pub in Los Angeles.
This important fact was only made known to Santiago by the grandmother, after the father had died of a sudden heart attack on a job site. The earlier news about his father's unexpected demise had somewhat tormented him, which affected his training.
This personal realisation about his father's eventual acknowledgement certainly gave him the necessary closure to move on with his own life as a foot-ball star. In fact, that was his defining moment, as he had earlier made several vain attempts to seek understanding & recognition from his angry father.
What I am saying in the end analysis is that, warm support of the spouse &/or family plays a very important role in one's journey in life.
Description of Goal! - The Dream Begins
Like the inspiring heroes in MIRACLE, REMEMBER THE TITANS, and THE ROOKIE, the amazingly gifted Santiago Mu?ez, a young immigrant living in the barrios of Los Angeles, has an impossible dream -- to play soccer for a world class team. Unexpectedly getting a tryout with one of England's premier soccer clubs, Newcastle United, Santiago finds himself totally alone in a world where soccer is a religion and the players are gods. Now he not only has to prove he has the passion, talent, and determination to make it alongside the best in the world, but he has to overcome his own demons and those of others. Filled with memorable characters, great heart, and real-life soccer legends, GOAL! THE DREAM BEGINS is a triumphant story about believing in your dreams.Bestsellers in DVD
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