Cosmos “Lifetime”
“The World Cup probably isn’t even on your radar, but on July 7th, two days before the final, Miramax is opening Once In A Lifetime , an incredibly entertaining documentary about the astonishing rise and fall of the New York Cosmos soccer team in the 1970s and ’80s. Founded on a whim by Time-Warner chairman Steve Ross and the Ertegun brothers, the Cosmos, for a too-brief period, boasted the talents of Pele, Franz Beckenbauer and Carlos Alberto, three of the biggest stars in the world. And they were selling out games at 77,000 seat Giants Stadium. And stars like Mick Jagger visited the locker room. And the team members were welcomed as VIPs at Studio 54. And by 1985, only eight years after Pele retired, the team was defunct. And now two Brit documentarians, Paul Crowder and John Dower, have turned this story into a very hip film on power, excess, stardom and the wild and crazy ’70s in New York. Once in a Lifetime has a great soundtrack filled with soul and disco music of the time, and plenty of tasty interviews with the parties involved. What makes it so great is also the fact that you don’t have to know anything about soccer or the Cosmos to enjoy it — it’s just flat-out entertaining and informative. A real winner.” — Lewis Beale
Totally agree with this assessment… it’s actually topped Wordplay as my favorite doc of the year.
Not only my favorite doc, but also my favorite film of the year. Magnificent.
Saw a very early rought cut of the film and really enjoyed it. Looking forward to the release next week.
Saw it earlier this week. I thought it was a good PBS documentary but nothing that would get me out to a movie theater to see it.
It promised to tie the surprising explosion of soccer in the late 70s to the general sense of the area but never really did it.
Beyond that it was just a straight chronology of a team being started, people being hired, some cattiness, and then they faded away. Interesting with a strong tint of boring.
Wonderful and very funny. As a soccer widow, by which I mean, when my hubby is watching I am alone, I have always wondered what the fuss was all about. This film reveals some of the reasons why its ‘The Beautiful
Game” and keeps you entertained from start to finish. Funk-tastic sound track, very funny characters, wonderfully put together with archive footage that really takes you back. Whether you like footbal/Soccer or not, this doc is a great entertaining film, filled with the original players and backroom staff, some of which obviously had an axe to grind about their demize.
Constantly amusing, always intriguing, and never boring.
Now in my top 5 docs of all time.
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