‘Goat’ Review: Animated Basketball Flick Is Surprisingly Nuanced, Gorgeously Crafted
On paper, Tyree Dillihay’s “Goat” sounds less like a movie and more like a dad joke that got out of hand. It’s an animated basketball film about a hero who wants to be the “Greatest Of All Time,” aka “The GOAT.” The gag is, the hero is an anthropomorphic goat. Get it?
The concept of “Goat” may be cheesy, but Dillihay’s film is, appropriately, all about not judging books by their covers. In the world of “Goat,” anthropomorphic animals play a professional sport called Roarball, which is essentially basketball but with environmental hazards. It’s extremely dangerous, and until now, the only players were very large animals, like panthers, rhinoceroses and Komodo dragons. Smaller animals, ranging from guinea pigs to goats, need not apply.
Caleb McLaughlin (“Stranger Things”) stars as Will Harris, a young goat who refuses to give up his dream, and practices on the court when all the big animals aren’t looking. When a superstar called Mane Attraction (voiced by Aaron Pierre) shows up at Will’s local court, challenging all takers for a publicity stunt, Will throws his hat in the ring and humiliates the professional player. Will loses the game but goes viral anyway, and soon he’s signed as a novelty act to the Vineland Thorns, the worst Roarball team in the league, who just need to put butts, tails and cloacas in seats.
Will is smart, talented, sensitive and committed. He’s a good role model for kids and a good influence on his teammates, including Olivia the insecure ostrich (Nicola Coughlan), Lenny the unmotivated giraffe (Stephen Curry), Modo the exhibitionist Komodo dragon (Nick Kroll), and Archie the overworked single-dad rhinoceros (David Harbour). The star player, Jett Fillmore, is a muscly, egotistical panther, voiced by Gabrielle Union, and she’s arguably the best in the league. But she’s not a team player so she’s never won the title, and she’s starting to worry about her legacy.
“Goat” is an underdog story — excuse me, it’s an undergoat story — about a hero who learns nothing. Will may be young, but he’s fully formed, righteous and principled, skilled and modest, a team player despite never working with a team before in his life. Conventional screenwriting logic says Will should be a boring main character, but “Goat” doesn’t follow that tradition. It’s got more in common with the Bing Crosby classic “Going My Way,” the one where he played a kindly young priest who taught a curmudgeonly old priest to lighten up a bit and everyone won an Oscar in the process. “Goat’s” real star is Jett, the jaded veteran who learns a valuable lesson from an idealistic novice and turns their career around at the last minute.
It’s a good, wholesome story for a family film to hang its hat on, and “Goat” tells it well. Tyree Dillihay’s film is sumptuously animated, taking place in detailed, imaginative worlds where lush green vines flourish on and within all the urban architecture, as though all the humans died centuries ago and nature reclaimed their monuments. The characters are broadly designed and emotionally evocative. Their movement is extremely fluid, exaggerated and dynamic. And the animal gags range from face-slappingly obvious to subtle and revealing. Jett may be an intimidating Roarball player who threatens to eat Will when she’s mad, but she’s still a cat, so when she’s at home looking at social media she unconsciously makes biscuits on her cushions.
The story of “Goat” involves a bad sports team becoming a good sports team and making it all the way to the big game, a structure which always works even if it doesn’t sound challenging. But “Goat” actually does challenge multiple norms, as well as recent, regressive legislation, by arguing for absolute inclusivity. There are no weight classes in Roarball, no league for little animals, or even medium-sized animals like Will, and although no “smalls” have ever played professional Roarball before, there are no rules against it. The teams aren’t gendered either: Jett represents the pinnacle of the league, and her gender is never a factor. It’s almost as if it doesn’t matter who you are or how you identify, you should still be allowed to play sports in any setting.
So Tyree Dillihay’s film is visually stimulating, subtly progressive, and genuinely well-told. That’s not b-a-a-a-a-a-ad. Say what you will about the premise, but if you think that’s all there is to “Goat,” you’re going to bleat those words.
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