In 2001, a pair of South African journalists and activists who were also serious soccer fans came up with an idea to help the world's homeless. They created a Homeless World Cup, in which teams of street soccer players from across the globe were organized into national teams and given the chance to compete as a way of putting a human face on issues of economic justice, as well as giving street people a chance to show their talents to the world. The first Homeless World Cup tournament was held in
2003, and since then tens of thousands of players from 48 nations have taken part in the games, with over 70 percent of the athletes reporting they've been able to leave homelessness behind after competing in the tournament. Documentary filmmaker Susan Koch offers a close-up look at the Fifth Homeless World Cup competition in Capetown, South Africa, in the documentary Kicking It, which focuses on six footballers from Ireland, Spain, Kenya, Russia, Iraq, and the United States as they look back at their chaotic lives and how sports have given them the chance to improve their lot. Narrated by Colin Farrell, Kicking It received its North American premiere at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
So earnest it hurts, Kicking It follows a half-dozen homeless men from around the globe as they ready for the fourth annual Homeless World Cup in Cape Town.
A well-meaning look at the Homeless World Cup, Kicking It presents its topic without much sentimentality, though it could benefit from a more pared-down approach.
It's hard to imagine how Koch could have made her film any more heavy-handed: perhaps by adding U2's "Where the Streets Have No Name" to the soundtrack or having the narration delivered by Colin Farrell-both of which, inevitably enough, the director does.
This earnestly watchable soccer documentary has enough drama and enough action for several films. Any one of its subjects could have served as the sole focus of the movie as well.
What we actually have here are a host of human stories about the homeless, put through the prism of soccer, as a path for the expression of one's humanity-one's worth.
As in the recent Planet B-Boy, the impoverished conditions of the film's subjects matter significantly less than the rush of competition, but at least Planet B-Boy was a thrill to watch.
This is an interesting subject for a documentary, and while it isn?t THE MOST interesting thing out there, and starts off terribly meek, it isn?t bad when you get all the way through. It helps if you have any interest in football/soccer. But it becomes more of a character piece very quickly. However, I think this is
the case of real life events letting the filmmakers down. There wasn?t too much build up for suspense and the people that you would naturally take more of an interest in don?t factor too much into the end results.However, this is a well made documentary that does fall into the sports doc category. Colin Farrell narrates and shows his face for the bookends. And I may have missed it, but there didn?t seem to be a message in connection with the FIFA World Cup in South Africa. Still, decent.
August 9, 2010
Lee B
Reality check for the homeless and addicts. Also enlightens what humanity is all about. Many choices are given and taken.
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