As March goes out less like a lamb than promised, there is room for an endlessly sunny, improbably upbeat sports flick set largely in the eternal city. Anyone expecting a rigorous study of the Homeless World Cup should seek out Susan Koch and Jeff Werner’s decent 2008 documentary Kicking It (narrated by one Colin Farrell). What we have here is an efficient compilation of the hoariest sporting cliches given a breath of life by some charming actors.
First on the team sheet is a reliably ironical Bill Nighy – more often in zip-up jackets than is usually the case – as Mal, a former West Ham official who is now managing the England team for that commendable competition. One convenient day he spots Vinny (Michael Ward), a spirited larrikin, pushing his way into a kids’ match and scoring a spectacular goal. The older man’s senses prickle. The footwork seems familiar and, having been around homeless people for a while, Mal knows to raise a sympathetic Nighy eyebrow at Vinny’s shaky claims that he has a secure job and a nice home. In dizzyingly quick fashion the young man is in the team and on the way to Rome.
To be clear, there are no depictions whatsoever of the desperate challenges homeless people face when not participating in an international soccer competition. Everyone has a story. Each of those stories gets teased out at the business end of an emotional crisis. One is a Kurdish refugee. Another is a recovering heroin addict. We could have done with a bit more from Tom Vaughan Lawlor’s Irish goalkeeper. They are all in service of a narrative that requires Vinny to get over his self-regard and accept the value of comradeship. “You’re not playing for medals,” someone actually says. “You’re playing for the team.”
Frank Cottrell-Boyce, regular collaborator with Michael Winterbottom, is nothing if not a professional, and his screenplay for this Netflix release weaves the yarns together seamlessly. The Beautiful Game seems, nonetheless, as much an advertisement for the Homeless World Cup as it is a living, breathing drama.
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No matter. The views are nice. The four-a-side action is nippy. And the soundtrack sets the toe tapping. A bit of Fela Kuti. Aretha’s take on Bridge over Troubled Water. You won’t need to be told we also hear Seven Nation Army. My understanding is it is now illegal to host a football match without that White Stripes number.
