Goal! The Dream Begins
Buena Vista Pictures | Release Date: May 12, 2006 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
53
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 19 Critic Reviews
Positive:
10
Mixed:
8
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
San Francisco ChronicleG. Allen Johnson
Goal! hits the back of the net and is an early candidate for the funnest movie of the summer. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneMichael Phillips
Most sports films are also fish-out-of-water stories, and this one qualifies as both. Read full review
75
New York PostKyle Smith
Has an awful title, a bland hero and a predictable story - but it also has a nice blast of English atmosphere. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
The movie works because it is, above all, sincere. It's not sports by the numbers. The starring performance by Kuno Becker is convincing and dimensional and we begin to care for him. Read full review
67
The A.V. ClubScott Tobias
How much viewers care about what happens in Goal! is directly proportionate to how much they care about soccer, because decent execution aside, there's an underdog fantasy movie just like this one for every sport. Read full review
67
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
There's enough realism to keep a soccer buff like me happy, but the film is aimed at the young at heart, and I think they'll love it. Read full review
63
USA TodayClaudia Puig
The film is capably acted and somewhat inspiring. Read full review
63
Miami HeraldPeter Debruge
An unknown commodity to anyone who doesn't follow telenovelas, Becker is sure to be a big star and has already signed on for two sequels. Apart from being scorching hot, he's enormously sympathetic in dramatic scenes. Read full review
63
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
A sports movie for people who may not care about sports but can't resist a heart-tugging underdog story. Read full review
63
TV Guide MagazineEthan Alter
A big success in Europe, the film has already spawned two sequels, the first of which is due to be released in the fall. Read full review
60
VarietyDerek Elley
A slickly mounted slice of can-do nonsense. Read full review
58
Entertainment WeeklyGregory Kirschling
The cast, all around, is sterling. There's only one thing they don't need to bring back for the sequels, and that's the movie's appetite for every sports cliché there ever was. Read full review
50
Village VoiceBill Gallo
The appealing young man's tribulations are predictable, his triumph inevitable; while he gets respect, we get another Rocky-style dose of emotional uplift, cloaked in the usual game-day clichés. Read full review
50
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWinda Benedetti
Goal seems destined to be an ongoing soccer-themed soap opera, but it's one that only the game's biggest enthusiasts likely will find compelling. Read full review
50
Chicago ReaderPatrick Somerville
If you can abide booming orchestral punches during verbal confrontations and ubiquitous Adidas product placement, you'll be rewarded by exciting soccer sequences and the joy of watching a likable character triumph on a global stage. Read full review
40
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
Despite employing every cliché in the sports-movie handbook, Goal! The Dream Begins tells a reasonably engaging story. Read full review
40
The New York TimesJeannette Catsoulis
As the clichés mount, Danny Cannon directs as if he's the one on trial, teasing tension out of every pass and dribble. Most irritating of all is his determination to paint British soccer as a gentleman's game, a notion United's real fans would no doubt treat with the scorn it deserves. Read full review
40
Washington PostDesson Thomson
The trouble with Goal!, which -- horror of horrors -- is the first of a trilogy, is that it's neither a persuasive story nor a satisfying display of soccer. Read full review
38
Boston GlobeTy Burr
Handsomely shot and with a likable lead in Kuno Becker, it also suffers from a script so outrageously generic you could buy it at Costco. Read full review
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