By BRIAN LEWIS
Kicking It _ the documentary about seven soccer players and their arduous-but-uplifting trek to the Cape Town 2006 Homeless World Cup _ makes its stateside debut here in New York at City Cinemas Village East (181 2nd Ave., 212-529-6998).
Itâs produced by Ted Leonsis _ yes, the same Brooklyn-born guy who owns the Washington Capitalsâ¦among many things.
âKICKING IT is at itâs heart great storytelling that focuses on ordinary people accomplishing extraordinary things through soccer, while tackling a tough subject _ global homelessness,ââ Leonsis said. âThe film shows how sports can transform lives under unlikely circumstances, blending homeless soccer players, volunteers and dedicated professionals for a common goal.ââ
Iâm not going to lie: I havenât seen it yet. I was probably covering a baseball game when it screen in Tribeca. But Iâve talked to people that have, and apparently it killed.
âI think it’s a pretty inspiring story of how soccer and football throughout the world inspires people to get on the right track in life and get the ball rolling, so to speak, in terms of their social lives to kick drugs and alcohol addiction,ââ Red Bulls defender Kevin Goldthwaite said. âI saw it at the Tribeca film festival, and the audience gave it a standing ovation.ââ
The flick is narrated by Colin Farrell (Phone Booth, Academy Award-nominated The New World) and directed by Susan Koch and Jeff Werner.
âThe Red Bulls are among the elite players in the worldâs most popular game. One billion people watched such pros play in the last World Cup _ and coincidentally, an estimated one billion people worldwide are homeless,ââ said Leonsis, who coined the term âFilmanthropyââ last year at Sundance to describe films that shed light on important issues.
With one billion people homeless, Iâm guessing this would sure qualify.
âVisually arresting, told with humor and drama, itâs a small-scale story of individual redemption with much broader implications. Itâll change how you view the homeless, help you to appreciate our common humanity and our distinctly individual stories, and give you hope that each of us can become winners. Expect to be drawn into a most unlikely competition, and into lives that initially seem so different from our ownâ¦and end up so familiar.
âAnd expect to see some great soccer.â