Golden Shoes

Thank you MPRM Communications for sending us this DVD to review!

While my kids and I were not necessarily looking forward to watching a sports related movie, we're all glad we gave it a shot.  Golden Shoes is about an eight year old boy named Christian Larou who lives and breathes soccer.   He wants to be like the professional footballer Christiano Ronaldo.   Christian's dad is on active duty in Afghanistan and his mother is working long hours and struggles taking her son to soccer practice.  

For some reason their neighbor, Frank, has a chip on his shoulder and is blackmailing the coach to put his twin boys on the playing field more than Christian. As a result, Christian's athletic abilities are suffering.  Instead of catching a break, Christian's life gets more difficult when his mother is bed-ridden in the hospital for a while.  Since Christian has no relatives and his dad is MIA, he is forced to live in Frank's basement until his mother recuperates.

Much like Cinderella, Christian is treated very poorly compared to Frank's sons and is given some golden soccer shoes that unlock his hidden talent that propels his team into the play-offs.  Not only does Christian become an inspiration to his teammates, he becomes a local hero that attracts the attention of talent scouts, and even the president of the United States.       

As inspiring as this story is, it does falter a bit morally.  I like how Christian obeys his mom's advice by succeeding instead of taking revenge on those who mistreat him.    There is one (poorly acted) scene where Christian talks a teammate out of getting into a fist fight.  While those are great lessons for my kids to learn, I was disappointed by the language they were subjected to in this Dove endorsed film.  Besides hell, my kids got to hear the worse form of "Dang it" and S.O.B. pronounced in its entirety.

If it wasn't for the language, I would encourage families to watch it without hesitation.  While it has a good message and story, it's not a big budget film and it shows at times.  The acting talent is pretty good and includes Eric Roberts, Montel Williams, and John Rhys-Davies.  In the end, Golden Shoes is worth renting and can be added to your DVD collection for less than $10 on Amazon.

(Amazon Affiliate Link)