Goal! cover art

Goal! Reviews

2005 Certificate 12
  • Rated:
  • 60
  • from 20,789 members

When Santiago Munez (Kuno Becker) crossed the Mexican border into America at the age of 10, he had two things in his possession: his soccer ball and a tattered picture of the World Cup. Convincing his father that he could be an international football star wasn't easy. But when amiable Brit Glen Foy (Stephen Dillane) spots .. Read more

Starring Kuno Becker, Anna Friel, Alessandro Nivola, Marcel Lures
Director Danny Cannon
Genres Audio Descriptive, Drama, Sport

loading loading...

  • Critics' reviews (4) of Goal!

    View all
  • Given the undistinguished history of the genre, back to cringe-makers like Yesterdays Hero and Escape To... read more on Time Out

    • Time Out
  • Possibly the best football film ever

    • Zoo
  • The best footy film ever

    • Match
  • Most helpful members' reviews (3) of Goal!

    View all
  • 29 out of 33 people found this review helpful

    Rated - 4 stars

    Scorchio!!

    There are three main reasons I liked this film. 1. Excessive amounts of Oasis Music. 2. Sweet cameo's from the world of football. 3. Igor Biscan scores for Liverpool from a corner. This film is pleasant. Fact.

      • Gareth Sutcliffe from Oldham, England
  • 7 out of 9 people found this review helpful

    Rated - 5 stars

    More, More, More

    I could watch this film over & over again, what a brilliant story.

    Every school boy should watch & learn, never to give up on your dreams. If only this could be a reality in the Premiership, what a game it could be.

    For now though we must stick with Beckham & co...

      • MickyC1 from Lancashire
  • 6 out of 9 people found this review helpful

    Rated - 4 stars

    Hola Santiago!

    Danny Cannon's 'rags-to-riches' tale is enjoyable, if a little far-fetched at times .. It is simply laughable that a premiership player's agent would wander onto the pitch after 90 minutes with a mobile in his hand and pass to a player to speak with his mama!

    Watch out for cameos from Becks, Raul & Zizi; and a good set of extras ..

    Can't wait for Goal! 2

      • Paul Jay from London, England
  • Most recent members' reviews (2) of Goal!

    View all
  • 4 out of 4 people found this review helpful

    Rated - 4 stars

    Really good fun! Loved it.

    This is a really good movie. I really enjoyed watching it. It had a unique plot and the acting was good. It's fun! You don't have to be a footie fan to enjoy. Worth a watch!

      • A customer from East Anglia
  • 29 out of 33 people found this review helpful

    Rated - 4 stars

    Scorchio!!

    There are three main reasons I liked this film. 1. Excessive amounts of Oasis Music. 2. Sweet cameo's from the world of football. 3. Igor Biscan scores for Liverpool from a corner. This film is pleasant. Fact.

      • Gareth Sutcliffe from Oldham, England
  • 29 out of 33 people found this review helpful

    Rated - 4 stars

    Scorchio!!

    There are three main reasons I liked this film. 1. Excessive amounts of Oasis Music. 2. Sweet cameo's from the world of football. 3. Igor Biscan scores for Liverpool from a corner. This film is pleasant. Fact.

      • Gareth Sutcliffe from Oldham, England
  • 7 out of 9 people found this review helpful

    Rated - 5 stars

    More, More, More

    I could watch this film over & over again, what a brilliant story.

    Every school boy should watch & learn, never to give up on your dreams. If only this could be a reality in the Premiership, what a game it could be.

    For now though we must stick with Beckham & co...

      • MickyC1 from Lancashire
  • 6 out of 9 people found this review helpful

    Rated - 4 stars

    Hola Santiago!

    Danny Cannon's 'rags-to-riches' tale is enjoyable, if a little far-fetched at times .. It is simply laughable that a premiership player's agent would wander onto the pitch after 90 minutes with a mobile in his hand and pass to a player to speak with his mama!

    Watch out for cameos from Becks, Raul & Zizi; and a good set of extras ..

    Can't wait for Goal! 2

      • Paul Jay from London, England
  • 4 out of 4 people found this review helpful

    Rated - 4 stars

    Really good fun! Loved it.

    This is a really good movie. I really enjoyed watching it. It had a unique plot and the acting was good. It's fun! You don't have to be a footie fan to enjoy. Worth a watch!

      • A customer from East Anglia
  • 4 out of 5 people found this review helpful

    Rated - 4 stars

    Believable sports movie

    Most sporting movie's seem to be based around a bad team who haven't won a game all season yet by the end are champs. This manages not to fall into that pitfall! The plot is a believable one, the character profiles are good (you do care what happens) and the movie is well worth a watch. PS don't be scared of the fact it's a football film, there's enough 'real life' in it to make it a general film.

      • Jurjen Gofers from Manchester, UK
  • 3 out of 3 people found this review helpful

    Rated - 3 stars [Highly rated reviewer]

    Goal!

    Lately, it’s not been easy being an English footie fan. So, those mired in misery after recent results could do worse than turn to Danny Cannon’s latest, a sweet-natured football fairy tale played with heart, good humour and an irrepressible sense of fun.

    Let’s be clear: the screenwriters leave no cliché untried as, Billy Elliot-style, young Santiago (newcomer Kuno Becker) battles a dad who won’t even countenance his ambition; fish-out-of-water antics and anxieties ensue as the Mexican-American struggles to adapt to the arcane habits and hostilities of England’s North-East; and ill health threatens to destroy Santy’s career before it’s begun. Will he triumph over adversity to make Newcastle’s first team? You’ll just have to go and see.

    But cheese aside, where Goal! succeeds is in wittily drawn, Footballers Wives-style stereotypes (the cool-headed foreign manager, Alessandro Nivola’s playboy soccer star), lovely performances and a satisfying emotional arc. There’s also some exciting matchplay to enjoy, largely involving the Magpies and Liverpool, and the appearance of several soccer stars as themselves (Beckham, Zidane, Raul). It’s a warm tribute to the beautiful game that, for two hours at least, offers an escape from football’s — and life’s — harsher realities.

    No points for originality, but Goal! scores three valuable stars for its warmth and wit.

    • nated23
      • nated23 from Birmingham
  • 3 out of 4 people found this review helpful

    Rated - 3 stars [Highly rated reviewer]

    Only for the football lovers

    When this dropped through my letterbox I looked at the reviews on this site and was quite worried. However, my love of football carried me through the film. The storyline is so inplausible it makes you laugh but I spent the time watching the Real footballers cameos and spotting those I recognised. Shearer, Dyer, Beckham all appear and David with his line comes across as so wonderfully wooden it proves that he is not the most perfect human as the media would have us think. I laughed out loud when Zizi and Raul appeared! Even my wife (who hates football) said she had seen worse. I am still glad I rented it, but if I owned it I would have made a mistake.

  • 2 out of 2 people found this review helpful

    Rated - 5 stars

    wicked film

    this film was absaluty fantastic and i have already told everyone too bwatch it. deff e for all the family and for the girls! am nowwaiting for the goal 2 to be sent too me.i can't wait!!!!

      • A customer from Essex
  • 2 out of 3 people found this review helpful

    Rated - 3 stars

    Easy to watch Footy flick - even for the misses!

    Like many others I was a little apprehensive about this movie, though I have to say on the whole it was enjoyable and easy to watch. It is very Rocky'esq and has all the right ingredients even if some of the lead acting is a bit thin and cheesy at times. The outcome is somewhat predictable but if you want a movie you can sit back and enjoy without thinking too much this is it. And for those of you out there worried that the other half wont like it, my misses watched it all the way through without moaning once, which is a small miracle in itself!

      • A customer from Midlands
  • 2 out of 3 people found this review helpful

    Rated - 5 stars

    A great film.

    This film is in the same guise as 'When Saturday Comes'

    The story is very good, had my missus hooked, and she doesn't watch too many films about sport (Wimbledon being the exception !!)

    The football scenes are very well put together, the only downside ?

    Beckham should stick to what he's good at, playing football !!!!!

      • Gav from England
  • Critics' reviews (4)

  • Given the undistinguished history of the genre, back to cringe-makers like Yesterdays Hero and Escape To... read more on Time Out

    • Time Out
  • Possibly the best football film ever

    • Zoo
  • The best footy film ever

    • Match
  • A winner

    • The Sun

Buy from the LOVEFiLM shop


    • Goal!
    • DVD: £6.93
      Free Delivery
    • RRP £19.79 (you save: 65%)
    • When Santiago Munez (Kuno Becker) crossed the Mexican border into America at the age of 10, he had two things in his possession: his soccer ball and a tattered picture of the World Cup. Convincing ...

Rating breakdown

20,789 Member ratings
  • 100
1,553
  • 90
1,678
  • 80
3,201
  • 70
3,568
  • 60
4,437
  • 50
2,585
  • 40
1,517
  • 30
1,027
  • 20
807
  • 10
416

Related News & Features

Celebrity collection

David Baldacci (10)
Average rating: 4.56   91.2% from 16 members