I am a sucker for a good underdog sports movie. I learned this week that I am not a sucker for an animated sports movie about an under-goat basketball player and team, however. GOAT plays like a desperate wannabe, a show-off that talks the talk but doesn’t have real game. My seven-year-old, however, gives it an all-net 10/10.
GOAT has a lot going for it. Richly colored and textured, the movie bulges with little, clever details that make it a visual treat. The animation style isn’t exactly fresh–we’ve seen similar styles in other “edgy” fare in recent years–but it’s not yet stale, either. The aesthetic works for the film, which aims to have urban appeal and cater to youths who get revved up about basketball (the game in question is actually called roarball). It’s a spectacle to look at.
It’s stuffed with fun characters, too. Will Harris (voiced by Caleb McLaughlin) is small but street smart, popular but ridiculed, a dreamer who has talent. Jett Fillmore (Gabrielle Union) is fierce but cocky, so caught up in her own greatness she’s lost sight of what made her great. Together, they make for a strong protagonist pairing. The supporting characters are fun, too, from the extremely strange Modo (Nick Kroll) to a hamster landlord who just can’t stop reproducing.
And there is always a lot going on. Roarball action, scheming executives, weird character relationships and sociopathic hippo children. Plenty to keep the kids entertained.
But the sum is less than its parts, far from an airball but certainly a shot that bounces three times on the rim before tipping away. GOAT has a lot of amusing moments, even some outright funny ones, but at a reasonable 100-minute runtime it just, sort of, drags. It feels like the writers play basketball/roarball like I do, throwing recklessly at the backboard with hopes that eventually the ball will go in once or twice. Scene by scene GOAT has vibes, but cohesively it fails to gel, not landing as many jokes as you’d expect while it relies heavily on the visuals to make up for its lackluster and predictable story.
A subplot involving the sale of the team is pretty tiring. Further, Will gets lost in his own movie, disappearing for inordinate lengths of time to focus on Jett. Her story isn’t bad, but it’s not nearly as fun as Will’s.
GOAT feels like it’s being pulled in too many directions, a movie that can’t decide what it wants to be. But creative visuals and colorful characters make up for some–but not all–of its shortcomings, which little kids aren’t likely to notice anyway.
Review by Erik Samdahl. Erik is a marketing and technology executive by day, avid movie lover by night. He is a member of the Seattle Film Critics Society.