GOAT
Starring: Caleb McLaughlin, Gabrielle Union, Aaron Pierre, Nicola Coughlan, David Harbour, Nick Kroll, Jenifer Lewis, Patton Oswalt, Jelly Roll, Jennifer Hudson, Sherry Cola, Eduardo Franco, Andrew Santino, Bobby Lee, and Stephen Curry
Director: Tyree Dillihay
ADRIANO
If you are a child reading this, congratulations, GOAT is for you, as it's filled with fun characters that you can laugh with. If you’re an adult, you won’t hate your life, but you’ll be bored. I want to be very clear, GOAT is good. The animation is gorgeous, and the underlying tone of hometown pride is sincere. But it has the simplicity of a typical sports movie’s narrative structure, and moves at an awkwardly fast pace that gives little breathing room for any character arcs or stakes. This one winds up being serviceable junk food for children.
AMARÚ
I worried that GOAT was going to be an unimaginative cash grab off of Steph Curry’s visage, and aspects of it were. Breakneck pacing glossed too quickly over emotional character and story beats, and some jokes went full Steve Buscemi “how do you do, fellow kids?” But surprisingly, some of the bits trusted kids (and allowed grown-ups) to laugh at adult-tinted comedy, and much of the themes traversed tried and true sports underdog stories to effective results. While very predictable, overstimulating, and overstuffed, the heart behind this was palpable enough that I couldn’t help but crack more than a few enjoyable smiles.
