Dream big. However, in a world where everyone wants to be a GOAT (Greatest Of All Time), normality is the real skill, both on and off the field. Based on this premise, and without changing the rules of the classic sports movie, Tyree Dillihay directs Goat, developed by Sony Pictures Animation and produced, believe it or not, by Stephen Curry.
The Golden State Warriors star is, among other things, increasingly involved in American cinema, having co-directed a short film (The Baddest Speech Writer of All) that won at Sundance. In short, the NBA champion is serious about his work, as is Goat, which, in a riot of colorful watercolors, uses the same animated styles as Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and Kpop Demon Hunters.
Goat, a kid and a panther on the same team
Taking a step back like Chef Curry, and returning to the title, here’s the other big spark: the protagonist of Goat could only be a… goat. Yes, if the pun doesn’t work in Italian, the assonance with the original meaning of the word is funny: goat = capra. The goat in question, or rather the kid, is Will, who dreams of becoming a ball-juggling phenomenon. A mix between basketball and hockey, very physical, played on absurd fields, and practiced by ferocious and gigantic beasts.
After all, if we are in a world populated by anthropomorphic animals (the déjà vu with Zootopia is quickly absorbed), a goat has every right to dream the impossible. His role model is Jett, a champion panther who plays for the Thorns. She is a few years too old, but she is the strongest on the roster, even though the franchise is struggling. After starring in a viral video, Will joins the team, despite Jett’s initial complaints. A panther and a goat, a strange couple, no doubt about it. So strange that, together, they will try to win the tournament, saving the team from the abyss.
An animated sports movie that works
Action and contraction, humor and emotion, a film that revisits basketball as a sport that nods to video games, while Dillihay’s direction lingers on archetypal characters who become functional to an aesthetic rendering closely linked to the narrative. Exciting, of course, as certain athletic gestures are exciting, suspended halfway between the court and the sky, skirting the line between glory and defeat.
GOAT is another excellent example of how sport (re)seen (d)in cinema is even more beautiful and even more engaging, cutting vertically through those themes capable of guaranteeing a perpetual and credible narrative: unity is strength, self-sacrifice for a common goal, collectivity as an antidote to the individualism of an era—our own, and therefore reflected in a film for the whole family—that focuses on appearance and never on substance.
A coming-of-age novel suitable for everyone
On an interesting note: as far as I can remember, this is the first animated film to openly feature certain brands, such as Under Armour and Mercedes. Nothing too invasive, but it’s a sign of how much even “cartoons” have changed. Of course, Goat is a very wide-ranging title, which vibrates like an NBA playoff game without sacrificing a certain underlying delicacy, spread across the three-dimensionality of the colorful and well-structured characters.
Taking up the baton from Space Jam and Semi-Pro, with a nod to He Got Game (and that’s no small feat), it focuses its driving force on the characters and tone, on the charm of a strictly contemporary mood, in terms of outfits, slang, and design, thus managing to make a strong impression on the viewer. Ultimately, Goat is a coming-of-age and sports adventure story. An animated journey that leads to a newfound awareness: you don’t have to be a phenomenon to win. You just need to know how to pass the ball at the right moment.
Conclusions
Goat, if ever there was a need, once again emphasizes the union between cinema and sport. An animated coming-of-age story that focuses on emotion and action without sacrificing the absolute value of the well-characterized characters. Important themes and ideas, despite a not-so-original key. It doesn’t matter, because the aesthetic and narrative rendering work great, engaging audiences of all ages. Just like a basketball game played point by point.
