Elfmeter für die Rätsel-Kicker

I saw this at the cinema last summer and have now watched it again on DVD. It was, I remember, extremely popular during the summer much to the chagrin of Spanish film critics who tend to be terrible snobs when reviewing Spanish films. The comedy works, the story entertains and the characters draw you in. Well worth watching if you want to spend a fun two hours.

I don't realise why this movie is so low rated. I think it's nothing special but it's ok. Story is good and acting is surprisingly great. 7/10 from me.

It's based on the book series of the same the same name

This is an nice, agreeable but unven comedy starred by a varied group of kiddies; it packs emotion, amusement , romance, slapstick , comical situations , tongue-in-cheek , including conventional pitfalls and many other things. Paco (alias Pakete -Package- because of his penchant for failing penalties) is 11 years old and plays for the Sotoalto Futbol Club ,and in it, among others, Pakete, Camuñas, Angustias, Helena and Toni play. They all have a fundamental mission: win the next two games to prevent the association of mothers and fathers of students from closing the club. If they go down to second, the team is finished. Pakete lives in a town where nothing ever happens... until now. Looking for evidences to prove their suspects and investigating too the referee Gordillo believing that he's part of the conspiracy, Pakete and his friends will live an adventure full of fun where friendship and family will be the most important prize to win. Them the footballers have to find out why some referees fall sleep in the last games.

Laughter, adventure, mystery and soccer in this comedy aimed at an infallible and familiar audience and based on the book "The ¨Mystery of the Sleeping Referees", the first installment of the successful collection of novels by Roberto Santiago, who also turns up in a brief role, he is also the co-author of the screenplay on which the film is based. There are some funny scenes but they are padded by so much extraneously and strenuously narrative confusion. There are some nice jokes in the film and the cast makes a cosy fit , but also contains a lot of flaws and gaps . There's adventure and brief mystery with our little friends looking for evidences to prove their suspects and investigating too the suspect referees, believing there's a conspiracy. Pakete and his friends will live an adventure full of fun where friendship and family will be the most important prize to win. Miguel Angel Lamata, director and co-author of the script, says about it: "it brings together everything wonderful about the universe created by Roberto Santiago, our beloved childhood and adolescence, both what we live and what we dream of. Young people will dream, along with the protagonists, of adventure, mystery, comedy, and even romance. Thus, adults will simply dream of the children we once were, and perhaps we should never stop being¨. The starring children are mostly unknown, while adults are played by familar faces, giving sympathetic interpretations, such as: Joaquín Reyes, Carmen Ruiz, Antonio Pagudo, Norma Ruiz, Toni Acosta, William Miller.

Writer Roberto Santiago is an expert on comedies and he also made previously other soccer comedy, El penalty mas largo del mundo. He has made acceptable films as ¨El Club De los Suicidas¨, ¨Al final Del Camino¨ , ¨La cosecha¨, ¨Solo para dos¨, ¨El sueño de Iván¨ and ¨Hombres Felices¨. Many of them starred by his fetish actor Fernando Tejero who appears uncredited en ¨Los ¨Futbolísimos¨. The motion picture was averagely directed by Miguel Angel La Mata who firstly shot : ¨Una De Zombies¨ ; and after that : ¨Tensión Sexual no Resuelta¨ and ¨Isi & Disi, Alto Voltaje¨ and ¨Nuestros Amantes¨ . Neither the filmmaker nor his screen-writer have a solid grasp of either filmmaking nor scriptwriting , which are two fatal mangles to have if one wants to attempt a biggest budget . Rating: 4.5/10.

This movie is TRASH, it's so bad it made my grandma COMMIT SUICIDE! Only watch if you want you grandma dead