Jogo Bonito

I'm so glad they told this story and so glad I watched. While entertaining, it's also thought provoking. 2 for 1 deal. I've never heard of this Tourney and I want others to see this and hear the cause it represents.

We're tired of shallow movies. With this we can have entertainment and depth.

I appreciate the chance to laugh with no attempt to force emotion or make me want to cry. But just telling something that seems plucked from real life, down-to-earth but with substance that matters? I don't want to give away any of the movie but it is based on stories of real people without being the story of 1 person. The tournament is real. And I'm sure the experiences are real. The ending was not predictable and the story kept me engaged the entire time.

I watched this with my parents who have limited enjoyment of the sport, however the emotion and character storyline transcend the sport. It was compelling viewing and had my parents cheering, up on their feet and crying at times.

As a football fan, I found Vinnys character arch very believable, knowing the amount of players and people professional sports churns out, seeing Vinny get closure from Bill Nye brought a tear to my eye.

This film has given me some faith in the recent slew of netflix movies and given me reason to continue my subscription.

I have since watching read that this is somewhat rooted in the real homeless world Cup, with several ex players and coaches being involved. Personally this film has drawn much needed attention to a well worth social topic hence my review.

An uplifting sporting film showing how the game of football can change lives, even for the homeless, and in this case, for those who have lost their way. What makes it even more engaging is that the Homeless World Cup is an actual event, with stories taken from this international gathering and amalgamated to create this heartfelt journey set in the heavenly city of Rome.

The center of attention is a former semi-professional football player, Vinny Walker (convincing performance by Micheal Ward), who is released by the club even before his career took off. He joins a group of mismatched homeless men with assorted problems of their own, and writer, Frank Cottrell Boyce, does a stellar job in bringing their stories together, creating a magic bond, with the help of director, Thea Sharrock. The living legend, Bill Nighy, gives it an extra boost, even when the story sometimes gets a little schmaltzy, this little gem still shows the passion and rewards of humility within the most beautiful game.

I love Bill. A great actor. A legend. I love football. I admire the cause. Most of us are one cheque away from being in this tournament. So I was desperate to like this.

But the story was a little rushed and a little shallow. It knew the story it wanted to tell and just spewed it out. Very dumb and simplistic. Yes, it ticks the good feeling box. But it could have done so much more.

The herioin addict made a great first impression. Good acting. Believable character.

The cause that I have NEVER heard of. Why? My ignorance or a system failure. Why is FIFA not shoving this down my neck every Saturday!? But this film got the message to me. So I am wiser. And I get to thank this film for that.

So the film was a success. And I am grateful. Thank you 👍

Overall this is a good movie that manages to deliver on the intended feel good wholesome vibe but i cant deny that it would have benefited greatly from some changes to the timing of some dialougs that makes them feel too forced at times, like Aldar's coment about him liking the sky in italy because there are no bombs in it which is a great piece of dialoug but it comes immidiatly after the reveal of his backstory in a moment that i dont think makes much sense for him to say that but had he said it in a more natural place it would have been great, like when they find vinny sleeping in a bench..