Kicking It (2008)

Number Rolled: 28

Movie Name/Year: Kicking It (2008)

Genre: Documentary

Length: 98 minutes

Rating: NR

Director: Susan Koch, Jeff Werner

Writer: Susan Koch

Actors: Colin Farrell, Brandon Francis

I have a vast enjoyment of movies. I like everything from Horror to Romance to Independent, and everything in between. However, I don’t add many documentaries to my instant queue. It’s not that I’m not curious. Hell, I spend the majority of my free time skimming various reference sites on the internet. Documentaries aren’t just about information though, or at least, they’re not supposed to be. If someone wants to see a regurgitation of information, there are numerous dissertations that can be found through google. When someone wants to be entertained by information they are curious about, they hit up a book or a documentary series/movie. For this reason, I ONLY add to my instant queue documentaries that hold significance to my interests.

I love soccer. I played for four years, coached for two and follow LA Galaxy religiously. I know how much passion for anything can work to help someone rise themselves up from rock bottom. This movie is about aiding the homeless be fanning the flames of a passion in soccer. I’ve also been exposed, through loved ones, to homelessness. My father was homeless when I was a teenager, unfortunately, he wasn’t breaking any stereotypes. He was a drug addict and an alcoholic that participated in various illegal situations in order to get by. I did, however, have a friend during high school that was also homeless. She was as straight-edge as possible; never did drugs, never did alcohol. She’d become homeless because she found it was a better alternative to living in an abusive home. After being attacked in a shelter, she found it was simply easier to live on the streets. She made every goal of hers fit with getting through school and getting a job. Her passion came from art. Last I heard, she was designing dresses for a major company.

This documentary follows the road of six different homeless men who train to and compete in the Homeless World Cup. It’s a bit heartbreaking, as you can imagine, as you learn why these people are homeless and what they must endure to remain alive. A young man who was abused and is angry at the world. A man that fell to drugs and is trying to kick them. A young man in Afghanistan trying to live above the violence. You get to watch each of the subjects fall in love with soccer and work as a team to have that boost of confidence that will help them pick themselves up. Anything that aids someone in helping themselves up from rock bottom, is usually a good thing.

The first half of the movie goes into all this drama and offers an intriguing viewpoint of a subject people usually only see the worst side of. It’s absorbing and quite good. Then it gets into the homeless world cup. The first fifteen minutes after that are just as engrossing. Unfortunately, after that, the documentary tries a little too hard to be something that it’s not. It tries to be a fictional sports movie. Until it tried to be a mainstream movie genre, it was very good. Near the end, I was pausing every few moments to see how long I had until the end and trying not to fall asleep.

Only watch it if you’re REALLY interested in soccer and REALLY interested in documentaries. Otherwise, there’s not point.

Overall Opinion – 2/5