not you give two hoots about "the beautiful game" (and I don't), this charming and uplifting documentary will have you cheering for the underdogs and wishing that all footballers were this humble, determined and just plain decent." While on his film review programme with Simon Mayo on BBC 5 Live he admitted that the film made him both cry and punch the air. In the New Statesman, Arsenal fan Mark Lawson called Next Goal Wins, "one of the best films about football", because it will appeal to football fans and the football indifferent alike. Across the rest of the world the coverage was also positive. In The New York Times Anita Gates called the film "splendid celebration-of-humanity documentary" comparing its best moments to an Edith Wharton novel. A number of reviewers remarked that interest in soccer or even sport was not necessary to enjoy the film. Despite their largely positive reviews, Liam Lacey in The Globe and Mail noted that the film was predictable and in the Los Angeles Times Sheri Linden wrote that there is nothing exceptional about the film cinematically. Awards Next Goal Wins won the Special Jury Award as part of the Documentary Film Competition at the 2014 Abu Dhabi Film Festival and was also nominated for a Black Pearl Award for Best Documentary Feature at the same festival. The same year it won the Best Documentary award at the British Independent Film Awards. In 2015 the film was nominated for Documentary of the Year at the London Critics Circle Film Awards 2015. Feature film adaptation In August 2019, Variety reported that director Taika Waititi would oversee a feature film adaption of Next Goal Wins for The Walt Disney Company under their 20th Century Studios banner. Waititi co-wrote the script with Iain Morris. Garrett Basch, Jonathan Cavendish, Andy Serkis, Mike Brett, and Steve Jamison served as producers. The production was a joint venture between Searchlight Pictures and The Imaginarium. Principal photography began in late 2019. Michael Fassbender was announced to star in the film adaption in the role of Thomas Rongen. References External links 2014 films 2014 documentary films American Samoa national football team 2010s English-language films English-language Samoan films Samoan-language films British independent films British association football films Documentary films about association football Films shot in American Samoa Films set in American Samoa 2014 independent films British sports documentary films 2010s British films