Category: Comedy
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Colombian fun and fandom in ‘Maximum Penalty 2’ (2024)
La Pena Máxima 2 follows the 2001 iconic Colombian comedy of futbol obsession. The first film was written by Dago Garcia, who produced this not quite a sequel and devised it with different characters. I have not seen the original, but this film shows the high production quality of Colombian films and the charm of…
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‘Back in Action’ (2025) is watchable but not a soccer movie
The title Back in Action is a double-entendre. Not only is the action comedy about a pair of retired spies unwillingly forced back into duty, but it also marks the return of Cameron Diaz to the screen after a 10 year absence.
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‘Greener Grass’ (2019) a lauded absurdist nightmare
I normally don’t research a film before watching it. But I did, and I found an amazing number of reviews praising the 2019 feature film Greener Grass as gloriously twisted, absurdist, surreal, demented, satirical, hilariously deadpan, weird, hysterical and a surprise hit at Sundance.
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Waititi and Fassbender are pitch perfect in ‘Next Goal Wins’ (2023)
In the film industry, remakes surface all the time, even when the story was told pretty well the first time. Someone in Hollywood decides to freshen up the story, try a new perspective, or rewrite the facts completely. So when I read that Director Taika Waititi was going to reconstruct the original 2014 documentary Next…
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‘The Other Zoey’ (2023) is cute but is not a soccer movie
I watched this young adult/teen rom-com on Amazon. It’s a very cute story about a nerdy girl named Zoey who inadvertently causes soccer player Zach to suffer a concussion. He gets amnesia and mistakes her for the soccer playing girlfriend he recently started dating, who is also named Zoey.
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‘Perder es ganar un poco’ (2023) is a winner
How to Succeed at Losing popped up at the top of my Amazon Prime feed. I decided to watch it even though it didn’t look like a soccer movie. It turns out that not only is this a cute futbol film, I really enjoyed it for its refreshing presentation of life and relationships and the…
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Pentecostal football makes good in ‘Prophetess’ (2021)
Prophetess (also spelled Prophe+ess) is a comedic premise with a lot of dramatic situations from one of Nigeria’s most popular new directors, Niki Akinmolayan. I think the comedy is supposed to be a farce with exaggerated situations, but I was never quite sure. In fact, there were so many things going on that I had…
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Steve Zahn is perfect in ‘Gringa’ (2023)
First of all, spoiler alert — nothing terrible happens in Gringa. I had hesitated to watch this movie because I thought it was going to be a depressing trope about failed lives and relationships. But instead, Gringa is about second chances — the chances we give ourselves to recover, and the chances we give others…
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A long farewell to ‘Ted Lasso’ Season 3 (2023)
Ted Lasso Season 3 was great and satisfying. All the stories were tidily wrapped up. The dialog was often amazing. Ted’s monologues were inspiration exemplified. The football was better. The writers explored new themes and got knee-deep in immigrant and LGBT issues. But Season 3 of Ted Lasso was a little different for me than…
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Have a laugh with ‘The Outcasts’ | ‘El Matareed’ (2023)
Before The Outcasts, aka El Matareed, Egypt had a pretty long history of funny football films. While much of this film is silly and over the top, I actually watched it twice and enjoyed it both times. The performances are entertaining, and the storylines are more complex than you initially think. In fact, for Egypt,…
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‘The Champions’ (2018-2023) is funny and clever from Bleacher Report
The Champions popped up on HBOMax (currently known as Max) recently, and I was a little confused by the context of this brilliant animated series, i.e. where did this come from? Originally created for the Bleacher Report by comedic writer-producer Andy Haynes, this was a web series on Youtube, mirroring the Champions League (CL) from…
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‘Dream’ (2023) cheers for the homeless
I have reviewed quite a few films about the Homeless World Cup, but Dream (드림 ) is the first I’ve seen that puts some humor into what would be a typical sports drama, along with bits of Korean culture and the quirkiness embraced by Korean film.
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‘Headless Chickens’ (2023) is not afraid to be funny
The idea for Headless Chickens (Pollos Sin Cabeza) sprang from the heads of Pokeepsie Films. Although not football fans themselves, they figured when footballers and their agents are flush with money, there are many opportunities for sh*t to happen. They went to Writer and showrunner Jorge Valdano Sáenz to develop the concept.
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‘Red Card’ (2017) – old time Emirati humor
Late one night on Netflix, I found this Emirati football comedy from the UAE (United Arab Emirates). When I started watching Red Card (Kart Ahmar), I was quickly confused. I hadn’t had any exposure to Arab humor, and given how conservatively Islam is portrayed in the media, I had assumed that Arabs don’t laugh much.…
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‘Go Now’ (1995) is a tearful slide into multiple sclerosis
I came upon this old BBC TV movie by chance on Amazon Prime. By the description, it didn’t seem like a soccer movie, but it turns out that the first 30 minutes deliver trope after trope of non-league football from the touchline in 1990s Bristol, England.
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‘Classico’ (2022) is an enjoyable football French farce
Looking for something a little different to watch? Classico is a cute mash-up of comedy and a little romance in the context of a rivalry between ultra but nice football supporters.
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Bravo for ‘Las Bravas FC’ (2022)
It’s a shame that shows like Las Bravas F.C. get so little traction and attention in the world of futbol. It’s a cute, entertaining series that abounds with examples and themes of diversity, inclusion, and female footballer role models. Lead actor Mauricio Ochmann is a popular telenovela star with a charisma that echoes Ryan Reynolds…
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‘Jaadugar’ (2022) is a sweet rom-com sprinkled with football and magic
Credit this film for its high quality and unusual story. Despite a lengthy 2 hours and 47 minutes, I did not check my watch while viewing Jaadugar (जादूगर). The story is well-shot and well-edited, and it deftly weaves together a tale of romantic comedy, football, and magic. In addition, I was entranced by the brilliant…
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Where have you gone, ‘Ted Lasso’ Season 2 (2021)?
The Apple TV+ series Ted Lasso has had such a cultural impact, it calls for a separate review for its second season. Season One arrived as an antidote to a toxic presidency and a worldwide pandemic. Coach Ted Lasso was quoted from the pulpit of my local Presbyterian church, in whose congregation almost no one…
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‘Rovers’ (2016) warm as toast before Ted Lasso
Rovers is a thoroughly enjoyable comic series that only ran one season for 6 episodes. Director and star Craig Cash has a history of comedic series and successes, and it’s a shame that this show didn’t run longer.
