‘The worst team in the world’
Manager: Taika Waititi
Artists: Michael Fassbender, Elisabeth Moss, Kaimana
Year: 2023
Premiere: 12/27/23
★★
If there is one thing that characterizes the cinema of New Zealander Taika Waititi, whether you like his suggestions more or less, it is a clear desire to expose or manipulate political incorrectness. He showed this in two cynical Marvel movies about the warrior Thor, or in his harshest take, ‘Jojo Rabbit’, about a German boy to whom Adolf Hitler becomes an invisible friend. But every ‘radical’ sometimes wants to compromise with the system and do something closer to the people. ‘“The Worst Team in the World” may be the case in Waititi’s filmography, a gentle film – exceedingly gentle, devoid of any transgressions worth mentioning. An unconventional telling of a sports story that has been repeated many times on the big screen, this film is about the American Samoa football team, considered the worst in the world for decades and always the most successful, overcoming a painful real team. Stigma after losing 31-0 to the Australian team.
A Dutch man, played by Michael Fassbender, takes it upon himself to educate them and raise their self-confidence. and despite initial reluctance and disaster, he gains the players’ trust while also extricating himself from his disastrous personal life. But there is not a single ounce of tragedy. This is a film Good vibes with some jabs at sports movies, but lacking the director’s evil hooliganism.