There’s a quote in this movie that pretty much encapsulates what The Beautiful Game is about. “I’d like to fill my brain with good things, so there’s no room for bad things.” The Beautiful Game is that kind of feel-good movie, one that hits pretty much the predicted emotional beats, even if it manages to deviate from the expected story plot-wise. It would take a hardened cynic to not be at least a little bit touched by what the movie is trying, and pretty much succeeding, at transmitting.
Set against the backdrop of the Homeless World Cup, something I’m aghast to say I didn’t even know existed until this movie sent me on a Google spiral that lasted a good couple of hours, The Beautiful Game is less a story about the game or about homelessness and more a story about the people. But in many ways, it is a story about homelessness, because it is a story about the people. It’s a delicate balance, that the movie doesn’t lose sight of – while making sure you remember that the story isn’t about big ideas.
This serves not just the big idea that is at the center of The Beautiful Game, but the story the movie is trying to tell. It’s harder to comprehend big ideas in the abstract, especially big ideas that don’t have just one root cause or one explanation. But make a big idea about specific people, and it’s easier to care, to understand. Tie it to a specific moment in time, and give it a way for us to root for the characters involved, and you’ve got the perfect story.
In this regard, The Beautiful Game doesn’t really need a happy ending, or the happy ending for the movie was never just a win – at least not linear kind for the UK team. Thankfully, the movie does a pretty good job of showcasing not just Mal, Vinny, Aldar, Nathan, and Cal, but also Rosita, Gabriela, Protasia, and many other characters. The beautiful game isn’t just Vinny’s and it isn’t just something that belongs to one country, to one team. It’s universal. That’s part of its appeal.
But though the name of the movie – and the puns are all sports-related, and the story behind the movie is about the Homeless World Cup, The Beautiful Game is more than a story about football. Instead, it’s a story about second, third, and even fourth chances, and what it means to not just be truly seen again but to be understood.
Sports movies are all, deep down, about what it means to be part of a team. The Beautiful Game does showcase the benefits of teamwork, camaraderie, and companionship, but it goes, perhaps, a bit further. In this movie, it’s not just about what you get out of being in a team, it’s about what the team gets out of you – and what you can leave behind for the ones who come next. That might sound a bit exploitative, but if you watch the movie, you’ll realize it’s really not.
Agree? Disagree? Did you enjoy The Beautiful Game? Share with us in the comments below!
The Beautiful Game is available to stream on Netflix.