Goal III: Taking on the World

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Goal! III: Taking on the World
Goal III.jpg
DVD Cover
Directed byAndrew Morahan
Written byMike Jefferies
Piers Ashworth
Jonathan Ezekiel Arias
Produced byMike Jefferies
Matt Barrelle
Peter Heslop
Danny Stepper
StarringJJ Feild
Leo Gregory
Kuno Becker
Nick Moran
Tamer Hassan
CinematographyGeorge Tiffin
Edited byGiles Bury
Music byMark Thomas
Production
company
Milkshake Films
Distributed byMetrodome Distribution
Release date
  • 15 June 2009 (2009-06-15) (United Kingdom)
Running time
96 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Goal III: Taking on the World (also known as Goal III) is a 2009 sports drama film, the third part of the Goal! film trilogy. It was directed by Andrew Morahan, and written and produced by Mike Jefferies, who returned from the first two Goal! films. Unlike its two predecessors, this film did not have a theatrical release and was instead released straight to DVD and Blu-ray in the United Kingdom on 15 June 2009.

Many of the key filmmakers who made the first two films did not participate, including the original screenwriters and most central cast members. Kuno Becker, who played protagonist Santiago Muñez in the first two films, appears only briefly throughout the movie. The film instead focuses on two fictional England players at the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, Charlie Braithwaite (Leo Gregory) and Liam Adams (JJ Feild).

Plot[]

Professional footballers Charlie Braithwaite (Leo Gregory), Liam Adams (JJ Feild) and Santiago Muñez (Kuno Becker) complete filming of a commercial for the upcoming 2006 FIFA World Cup finals in Germany. After the shoot, Liam is informed by his agent Nick Ashworth (Nick Moran) that his contract with Real Madrid would not be renewed, adding to his pre-existing alcoholism.

Charlie is cast in a movie, and the trio travel to Romania for the filming. On set, Charlie meets Italian actress Sophia Tardelli (Kasia Smutniak) and become immediately infatuated with her. During filming of a scene, Liam is informed that both he and Charlie have been selected for the England World Cup squad.

As the three and Sofia travel in a taxi, they are side swiped by another vehicle and taken to a local hospital. Liam, Sofia and Charlie suffer what appear to be minor injuries, but Santiago suffers cracked ribs and a broken arm, putting him out of contention for the Mexican World Cup squad.

Nick negotiates a deal for Liam to return to his previous club Newcastle United. After brokering the deal, he meets and attempts to flirt with June (Anya Lahiri), albeit unsuccessfully. He then discovers she has a young daughter named Bella, and deduces that Liam is the father. Upon learning this, Liam goes to visit June, but runs out of the house in a panic upon meeting Bella.

Liam and Charlie travel to Germany for the World Cup, and after remaining on the bench for the opening two group stage games, Liam scores an equaliser against Sweden, assisted by a header from Charlie, and England qualify for the knock-out stages. Charlie proposes to Sofia, and she happily accepts. During dinner with Liam and Nick, Santiago reveals that Nick has also become his agent, resulting in him signing a two-year contract with Tottenham Hostpur. The three travel to a local night club, where Liam begins to flirt with the attractive Katja, but backs away as his feeling for June become stronger.

During the Round of 16 game against Ecuador, Charlie is knocked down in a collision and stretchered off. After the match, a 1-0 win for England, Charlie collapses in the changing room and is rushed to hospital, but passes away on route from an aneurysm (previously unidentified from the car accident). Liam, Sofia, Santiago and the rest of the football world mourn Charlies loss, with Liam kicking his alcohol dependency and taking a more active role in his daughters life.

After a goalless draw against Portugal in the Quarter Finals, Liam is chosen as one of the England penalty takers. Liam's penalty is saved by Portuguese goalkeeper Ricardo while Cristiano Ronaldo converts the decisive spot kick, and England are eliminated from the tournament.

Upon returning to Newcastle, Liam proposes marriage to June, which she accepts, with Santiago serving as Best Man. During the wedding, the party remembers Charlie, raising their glasses to not only the bride and groom, but Charlie as well. Italy are shown lifting the World Cup Trophy after beating France on penalties in the final.

Also following the tournament around Germany in their St. George's Cross festooned camper van are the "Geordie Boys", Newcastle United die-hards Gordon (Mike Elliott), Foghorn (Christopher Fairbank), Walter (Jack McBride), and Phil (Craig Heaney), showing their drunken, womanizing adventures in Germany.

Critical response[]

The film's release was met with a level of disappointment from audiences, predominantly based on its quality and the fact that it does not deliver the conclusion to the Goal story. The first two Goal films had built up a large core audience and Goal II had set up something a cliffhanger with its ending, something completely ignored by this film.

Critics were not kind either, echoing the same sentiments as the viewers. In his review for the website Shadows on the Wall, Rich Cline gave the film 2 out of 5 stars and wrote, "The conclusion of the officially sanctioned Fifa trilogy oddly shifts the attention away from the central character Santi to focus on two English players instead. The result is watchable and lively, but still a bit corny."[1]

The reasoning behind the envisaged disparity in plot and quality of the film seems to concentrate on the lack of budget available to producers. In his review for Goombastomp, Redmond Bacon writes "Made on a budget of only $10 million (compared to the original's far larger budget of $33 million), access to the pitch was obviously limited..."[2][unreliable source?]

Cast[]


Unlike in the first two films, characters Roz Harmison, Glen Foy, and Gavin Harris do not feature in the film. Santiago implies that he and Roz did not get back together following their separation. As shown in the second movie, Foy was fired by Santiago. Harris is not mentioned.

All actual professional footballers are shown through stock World Cup footage. The sporting role of the actors in this film is limited to the green screen.

References[]

  1. ^ "Goal III review". Shadows on the Wall.
  2. ^ "'Goal III' is a Prime Example". Goombastomp.

External links[]

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