The late owner of the Oakland Raiders, Al Davis, would often say to his team, "Just win, baby!" This supposedly inspirational film about soccer is based on the Al Davis motto instead of focusing on team comaraderie and other positive values of competitive sports that should be the primary focus for young people. It is also grossly misleading to promote the view to kids that if you try hard and do your exercises, you can be like a one-in-a-million soccer star like Alex Morgan, whose nickname was "Baby Horse."
The film is so sweet and syrupy that in an outtake from the DVD bonus track, the father of the young soccer player is screaming at her to get in the car. Of course, he comes across as a monster and the antithesis of the All-American father character in the film, and hence the scene was never in consideration for the final cut.
There were other moments in the film that were laughable, especially the soccer player's older brother, who was being recruited by football programs at major colleges and universities across the nation. But the brother's physique never came close to looking like a football player unless he was trying out for the place kicker.
The best scenes in the film were the fantasy experiences when the young athlete imagines that she is being tutored by soccer icon Patricia Alexandra Morgan. The bonding between the mentor and her student was effectively realized by the filmmakers.
Another likeable part of the film was the action on the field in the soccer games that led to the underdog Breakaways making it to the Diamond Cup Finals and playing in Harris Stadium. Although the goaltending looked non-existent throughout the film, the strikers had some skills, and the game footage was exciting.
Overall, the film was an enjoyable trifle that introduced audiences to Alex Morgan and mentioned other great women soccer players like Mia Hamm and Abby Wambach. But it went overboard on the sentimentality, glossing over the downside of zealous parents prodding their kids to excel in competitive sports when what they should be doing is supporting their kids in enjoying childhood and growing up to be independently-minded individuals.
The outspoken and controversial soccer goalkeeper Hope Solo recently went on the record by saying that "Soccer in America right now is a rich white kid sport." But "Alex and Me" offered the opposite smarmy slant that soccer is the great egalitarian sport that represents an idealized vision of globalization. The reality is probably in the exact middle of those two extremes.
The film is so sweet and syrupy that in an outtake from the DVD bonus track, the father of the young soccer player is screaming at her to get in the car. Of course, he comes across as a monster and the antithesis of the All-American father character in the film, and hence the scene was never in consideration for the final cut.
There were other moments in the film that were laughable, especially the soccer player's older brother, who was being recruited by football programs at major colleges and universities across the nation. But the brother's physique never came close to looking like a football player unless he was trying out for the place kicker.
The best scenes in the film were the fantasy experiences when the young athlete imagines that she is being tutored by soccer icon Patricia Alexandra Morgan. The bonding between the mentor and her student was effectively realized by the filmmakers.
Another likeable part of the film was the action on the field in the soccer games that led to the underdog Breakaways making it to the Diamond Cup Finals and playing in Harris Stadium. Although the goaltending looked non-existent throughout the film, the strikers had some skills, and the game footage was exciting.
Overall, the film was an enjoyable trifle that introduced audiences to Alex Morgan and mentioned other great women soccer players like Mia Hamm and Abby Wambach. But it went overboard on the sentimentality, glossing over the downside of zealous parents prodding their kids to excel in competitive sports when what they should be doing is supporting their kids in enjoying childhood and growing up to be independently-minded individuals.
The outspoken and controversial soccer goalkeeper Hope Solo recently went on the record by saying that "Soccer in America right now is a rich white kid sport." But "Alex and Me" offered the opposite smarmy slant that soccer is the great egalitarian sport that represents an idealized vision of globalization. The reality is probably in the exact middle of those two extremes.