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Once in a Lifetime film review
ONCE IN A LIFETIME
Running time: 98 mins
Starring: Giorgio Chinaglia, Rodney Marsh, Johann Cruyff, Pele, Narrated by Matt Dillon
A film that stakes a claim for being the greatest football documentary ever, Once in a Lifetime arrives on the big screen with exceptional pedigree. Producer John Battsek was responsible for the Oscar-winning One Day in September, and here he turns his attention to the beautiful game as played by the New York Cosmos during the 1970s and 1980s. It's heady stuff: hugely entertaining, frequently hilarious and a textbook example of how to make a great documentary.
It may seem strange to believe now, but at their peak the New York Cosmos sold out the Giants Stadium on a weekly basis as America, albeit briefly, embraced soccer. But it was flame that flickered all too shortly, and Battsek's film examines just how and why the North American Soccer League came into being, before imploding without a whimper on the early 1980s.
Using a vast selection of archive footage, as well as interviews with most of the leading characters, the film charts the business dream, as a group of gung-ho businessmen tried to realise their ambition of creating a new mainstream sport in the US. There are plenty of likely reasons why Americans were unable to comprehend soccer (largely to do with their limited concentration span), but the arrival of Pele in 1974 on a salary greater than any baseball or gridiron player helped to change the public's perspective.
As for the players themselves, most of them seem to have had a whale of a time. From the locals who suddenly had Pele as a teammate on their prison standard training pitch, to the likes of Franz Beckenbauer and Rodney Marsh who found themselves being paid a small fortune to enjoy the likes of Studio 54 on a weekly basis. Most fascinating of all, however, is the Italian Giorgio Chinaglia, a stubborn forward who won the hearts of NYC despite alienating nearly everyone else around him.
An exhilarating film that should appeal to non-football fans as much as real supporters, Once in a Lifetime is lovingly edited, has a thumping period soundtrack, and a mood that is hard to not find infectious. Battsek won an Oscar with One Day in September: now he might well complete the double.
Paul Hurley
