DVD Reviews

Goal 2: Living the Dream – DVD Review

By Jeff Swindoll Mar 30, 2009, 16:00 GMT

Goal II: Living The Dream continues the dramatic and exciting journey of Santiago Munez (Kuno Becker), a small town kid who continues to live his dream of becoming a professional soccer player. When he is traded to Real Madrid and must deal with the trials and triumphs of playing on one of soccer s biggest stages. Also starring Rutger Hauer, Anna Friel and featuring exciting action footage with some of ...more

The football, that’s soccer to us Yanks, career of Santiago Munez continues to grow as he joins the best team in Spain.  He also encounters some personal hurdles as he finds his long lost family and his engagement threatens to unravel as his soccer game begins to suffer as well.

When we last left Santiago Munez (Kuno Becker) he has just joined the Newcastle United and was off to a fine start.  This hadn’t gone unnoticed by the largest soccer club in Spain, Real Madrid.  His pal Gavin Harris (Alessandro Nivola) already plays for Real Madrid but is not having a good season as well as worrying about getting long in the tooth. 

Santi and Roz (Anna Friel) are working on their wedding with Real Madrid coach Rudi Van Der Merwe (Rutger Hauer) puts out the call to Santi’s agent Glen Foy (Stephen Dillane) that he wants Santi to play for the team. 

Santi is thrilled but Roz finds that she’s not very happy that he’ll be spending much of his time in Spain and not in Newcastle.  This starts to put pressure on their relationship.  Santi also comes to the attentions of reporter Jordana Garcia (Leonor Varela) who wants him to appear on her television show, but also appears to have a crush on the hunky soccer star. 

In the course of his Spanish career, Santi also discovers that he has a stepbrother, Enrique (Jorge Garcia Jurado), and that his estranged mother, Rosa (Elizabeth Pena) - who he didn’t know was alive, also lives in Spain.  As his personal life begins to fall apart, his professional soccer career also appears to be going downhill.  

If you liked the first Goal film then you’re in for more of the same.  It continues the story of Santi and also adds more soccer footage.  The personal storyline feels a bit forced as all sorts of dramatic tropes await Santi.  He finds that his mother is still alive and has been hidden from him since her leaving devastated his father and that he also has a half brother. 

This brother from another father is going down the wrong path so his mother reveals that the successful Santi, who rose to prominence from nothing, is his brother and hopes that he’ll follow in Santi’s footsteps.  Of course the two will meet and this only adds some more dramatic tension to the story of the soccer star.  Speaking of soccer stars, there are many of them playing themselves in this film. 

The most prominent is David Beckham who appears prominently on the cover.  He does have various appearances during the film and the final shot shows Santi, Gavin, and Beckham as a trio making you think that Beckham will play a bigger role in the third film (which will have to do with the world cup methinks). 

However, Beckham has no lines and is just window dressing for his fans.  Director Jaume Collet-Serra directs each match as it’s a music video or video game and has whooshing sound effects and slow-motion camerawork.  It gives a feeling of the unreal to the money shots that soccer fans will be waiting for.  Perhaps, they’ll eat it up but I found it pretentious.  

Goal 2 is presented in anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1) and is enhanced for 16x9 televisions.  Special features include a commentary by director Jaume Collet-Serra and writer/producer Mike Jeffries.  There’s also a 4-minute making of, 7 minutes of deleted scenes, 5 minutes of bloopers, and the 2-minute theatrical trailer.  

Goal 2 continues the story of Santi’s rise to stardom, but it plays it as a videogame.  I think I liked the first one better.  The box is a bit deceptive since it makes you think that David Beckham will be the third musketeer but it’s more of a non-speaking cameo.  

Goal 2: Living the Dream is now available at Amazon and AmazonUK. Visit the DVD database for more information.