A small goat with big dreams gets a once-in-a-lifetime shot to join the pros and play roarball, a high-intensity, co-ed, full-contact sport dominated by the fastest, fiercest animals in the world.
Chuck says:
I’m quite sure the kids and pre-teens Tyree Dillihay and Adam Rosette’s “GOAT” is aimed at will enjoy it. Based on the experiences of NBA superstar Steph Curry, who serves as one of the film’s producers and has a small voice role, the movie is a kinetic, visual and aural onslaught that bombards the viewer for most of its 100-minute running time. For the generation brought up with a smart phone or tablet used as a babysitter, this will seem like yet another bit of overstimulation their minds have become accustomed to. However, for anyone over 20, “GOAT” ultimately becomes a trial, a headache-inducing barrage that is endured rather than enjoyed.
Roarball is the name of the game that Will Harris (voice by Caleb McLaughlin) longs to succeed at. Unfortunately, the young goat is going to have his work cut out for him. This variation on basketball is a gladiator sport dominated by rhinos, gorillas, horses and bulls, these creatures running through and over each other before literally smashing the boards. Still, the kid’s quick, can shoot from the outside and has a tenaciousness that just might make him a star…if, he can catch a break.
Which just happens to come during a local pick-up game. The stallion, Mane Attraction (Aaron Pierre), a master of trash talk and braggadocio takes on all challengers and grossly underestimates Will. And while our young hero ends up losing the match-up, his unorthodox skills are put on display via social media. This catches the eye of the owner of the Vineland Thorns’ porcine owner Flo (Jenifer Lewis), who’s looking for a cheap way to get her team out of their funk.
Much to Will’s delight, he’s signed to join the squad. But this does not sit well with the Thorns’ veterans, particularly Jett Fillmore (Gabrielle Union), a ball-hogging panther who’s never been able to bring home a championship. She, as well as her teammates, Archie (David Harbour), a gone soft rhino, Lenny (Curry), a demoralized giraffe, Modo (Nick Kroll), an odd Komodo dragon, and Olivia (Nicola Coughlan), a social media addicted ostrich, make it clear they have no interest in Will.
The underdog scenario is a perfect hook for young viewers and with Will’s genial nature and can-do attitude on display they’ll be in his corner from the start. Equally engaging are the dynamic and imaginative visuals. The various arenas where the Thorns play are a reflection of the ecosystem where they’re located. The Cave is just that, the players forced to dodge falling stalactites, while the Inferno sits on top of a volcano and poses a variety of heat related obstacles, and the Cryosphere is played on a massive sheet of ice. These locales are vibrantly and meticulously rendered, as are the animal creatures, each making an immediate and lasting impression.
The voice cast deliver performances as distinctive and loud as their visual counterparts. As such, they can be a bit much. However, Patton Oswalt is the most effective as the Thorns’ coach Dennis, a proboscis monkey who, when rediscovering his passion for roarball, delivers one stroke-inducing speech after another.
There are few surprises where the film’s conclusion is concerned and that’s fine. The purpose of “GOAT” is to inspire the still-impressionable and it succeeds. And while young viewers will be please, parents and other older patrons will likely need to lie down after enduring the movie’s relentless visual assault. You’ve been warned.
2 1/2 Stars
