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Goal! The Dream Begins | 2006 | PG | - 3.2.4

A young man (Kuno Becker), who came to the U.S. illegally with his family when he was a boy, doesn't want to spend the rest of his life tending the gardens and lawns of wealthy Angelinos. After clashing with his father, who insists that everybody should keep to their assigned station in life, he follows his dream of becoming a professional soccer player by going to Britain and trying out for Newcastle United. Also with Stephen Dillane, Alessandro Nivola, Anna Friel and Marcel Iures. Directed by Danny Canno. [1:57]

SEX/NUDITY 3 - A man and a woman kiss passionately.
 Two women wear short skirts that reveal bare thighs, and a woman wears low-cut tops and dresses that reveal cleavage in a few scenes. A man is bare-chested in a few scenes -- in one scene he wakes up with a woman in his bed -- and another man is bare-chested in two scenes (in one he's in his boxers).
 A man and a woman sleep together on a couch; the man has his arm around the woman and she wears a low-cut top (her cleavage is evident). Men and women dance suggestively together in a few disco scenes; several women wear outfits that reveal cleavage and bare thighs.
 A newspaper photo shows a man with several women on top of him; the women wear low-cut tops that reveal cleavage. We see an obscured poster of a woman in a swimsuit.
 A man flirts with a nurse and she takes his blood pressure. Two women admire a man at two different times, as they drive by: they giggle and look at him with obvious interest.
 A man says that he used to clean brothels.

VIOLENCE/GORE 2 - In several scenes soccer players run into each other, trip each other up, and knock each other down -- sometimes by accident and sometimes on purpose. In one scene one player elbows another player in the face and we see the second player escorted off the field with a bandage on his eye.
 During a soccer match one player spits at another, and they shove each other, getting ready for a fight, but they are separated.
 We see Mexican immigrants (men, women and children) coming into the U.S. illegally through a break in a chain-link fence; a border patrol vehicle drives toward them, and a voice through a loudspeaker orders them to stop, while a father urges his young son on (the boy is tempted to go back and retrieve his soccer ball that's rolled away).
 A boy finds his father unconscious over a sprinkler; we later find out that he had a heart attack and died. A man says that his wife died of cancer.
 A man yells at his grown son and his son yells back. A man threatens to kill another man, if he goes out with his sister (as a joke).
 A nurse inserts a syringe in a man's arm, in a close up, in order to draw blood (no blood is visible). A man's knee is swollen and red. A man stomps down and destroys another man's asthma inhaler on purpose. We see urine in a jar during a hospital examination scene.

LANGUAGE 4 - 4 scatological terms (most in British slang), 2 anatomical terms, 3 mild obscenities, 2 religious exclamations, name-calling and insults (mostly in heavily accented, obscure British slang).

SUBSTANCE USE - People drink alcohol in several pub, nightclub, disco and party scenes, several men drink beer in different scenes, and in one scene a man acts as if he's intoxicated. A man smokes a cigarette. A man uses an inhaler for asthma.

DISCUSSION TOPICS - Aspirations, immigration, illegal immigration, social classes, sacrifice, parental pride, theft, talent, determination, irresponsibility, fame.

MESSAGE - Follow your dreams, no matter what. Soccer is a beautiful game. Illegal immigrants are regular people too.

CAVEATS

Be aware that while we do our best to avoid spoilers it is impossible to disguise all details and some may reveal crucial plot elements.

We've gone through several editorial changes since we started covering films in 1992 and older reviews are not as complete & accurate as recent ones; we plan to revisit and correct older reviews as resources and time permits.

Our ratings and reviews are based on the theatrically-released versions of films; on video there are often Unrated, Special, Director's Cut or Extended versions, (usually accurately labelled but sometimes mislabeled) released that contain additional content, which we did not review.


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