This short film was based on actual facts yet no disclaimer is shown in the movie. It's not needed because soccer fans are insanely fanatical when it
comes to the sport and the team they cheer, as portrayed in the film with the conflict of a father and his son when the latter decides to shift his attention
from one team (of which his father loves to death and the trend is mandatory in the family) to another where a beloved talented player shows his perfect game.
The player in question is Neymar during his tenure in Santos club and the family are Botafogo fans. With that, a little war of conflicts begin when the man
of the house tries to encourage the boy from not changing the family tradition of being Botafogo fans. And here in Brazil, anyone knows about stories like this
happening (at times equally humored or sometimes very dramatic) since it's the sport that runs through the population's veins, it's of such cultural importance
that one can watch other teams matches instead of one of personal choice just because the sport is there or a particular good player. As for Neymar, it's just
a current thing; it happened similar situations where Pelé, Ronaldinho, Romário and several idols on differrent times. Had it been on Argentina, the story would
be Messi or Maradona; on UK with Beckham and so on can be applied to other countries. So, a cenario such as the one depicted in the film
is valid, believable and worth seeing.
"Blame it on Neymar" is a fine tale, well-constructed and with plenty of funny and humored situations where father and son antagonize each other in a
strangely inbalance that only feeds fuel to the humor: while the father (Babu Santana) is going overboard and reacts near insanity whenever he tries to
change his son's mind, the kid (Kayky Gonzaga) just keeps calm, at times sad but still admiring Neymar, either watching him on TV or pretending to be him while playing soccer with his friends.
The film works also as a life exercise of patient, understanding and tolerance that teaches people that sometimes we can admire something else other than
the reality we live, in the case the team we support. The kid is wise enough that he can forget his soccer team for a while when he recognises that the other
team has the best player of the moment. He got game. And the film jokes a lot about the player's fame all over the news, products and more, a phenonemon that
happens with prolific players, thrown to the spotlight of fame and they become more than the just the sport, they end up being the center of everyone's talk.
That's the context that also gets the kid's attention much to his father despair and incredulity (mine as well for a little since Neymar is only good when he's
on European games or his way back period in Santos; he never got us a Fifa World Cup and on the 2016 event he was just a meme in the game).
The acting was great, direction of writers is precise and the script brings you the up's and down's of being a soccer fan - but it's all in a way to make you
laugh. Doesn't get a full ten star due to the lack of surprises or situations that I hadn't thought before. It has predictable moments, limited to sports
cliches but what makes us curious is seeing them it's how they are presented and created. It's not fiction, it's very real and it's good. 9/10
