El penalti más largo del mundo (2005)

Review: ‘El penalti más largo del mundo’ (2005)

The Longest Penalty Kick in the World is a Spanish film that is so horribly boring I had to keep rewinding to watch the parts I had dozed through.

The premise is that a small town team is trying to win its last home game so that it can get promoted. However, at the end of stoppage time, the referee calls an unjust penalty kick, and before the kick can be taken, the game is terminated when the angry home crowd chases the referees off the pitch.

The league rules that the 2 teams must complete the penalty kick a week later. Because the starting GK is injured, substitute GK Fernando — a scrawny inept chain-smoking alcoholic — is wined, dined, and set up with the coach’s daughter, to bolster his confidence.

Fernando is such a totally disgusting character that he’s difficult to watch. The only entertaining parts of the movie are the Sunday-league level of soccer in the beginning and the end, when the PK is first given and then concluded. The corrupt refereeing is comical.

1 Soccer Movie Mom Rating = 1

Resources:

  • Release Date: 2005-03-09 (Spain)
  • In Spanish with English subtitles
  • English title is The Longest Penalty Kick in the World
  • Spanish title is El penalti más largo del mundo
  • IMDB
  • Director: Roberto Santiago
  • Watch the Trailer in Spanish