Alex & Me (2018) User Reviews

Never give up on your Dreams

[nowego · 6/10 · 15 June 2018]

I think this movie is aimed at kids under 13, even though it has a story for everyone, most of the actors would not be classed as A list, but the enthusiasm of the younger actors is refreshing. They do a much better job than most of the adult actors.

Alex Morgan should stick to soccer, she is obviously a pretty good player.

Siena Agudong is very good throughout the movie and has a bright future.

James Moses Black overacts as the opposition coach and is obnoxious, but again he is supposed to be and does a pretty good job.

I stayed the distance and watched this all the way through, but it is definitely not aimed at adults and many would turn off very early on.

Most younger children would love it and some adults might, I found it good enough to watch once, but wouldn't watch it again.

A family movie with no violence or foul language.

A feeble piece of filmmaking, but a rare look at a girls' sports team, and fun entertainment for an undemanding audience

[freydis-e · 4/10 · 18 November 2019]

Reagan, 13 (played by Siena Adugong) a talented footballer (soccer player for readers in USA and Canada) gets no encouragement from parents or coaches, joins the usual team of rejects and misfits and helps them succeed. That's all there is. No attempt is ever made to vary this entirely standard plot and it's obvious what will happen at every stage. It's a carelessly made, patchy film but I did quite enjoy it. I'll run though what's good and the worst of what's bad.

Gaining it an extra rating point, the reason I watched this in the first place and most of the reason I kept on watching: this is a rare look at a girls' team, by contrast to the zillion sports underdog films about boys' or men's teams (Bad News Bears, Mighty Ducks, etc, etc.) which may or may not have a token girl. Adugong, onscreen almost every minute, does a decent acting job, and her character, as well as determined, is sweet-natured and generally adorable, helping me engage with the feel-good factor. Others may find her cloying in a Disney-TV type way. The good idea, which should set this apart from similar films, is the inclusion of a real sports star. Sadly Alex Morgan never develops much of a personality, isn't allowed to show off her skills, and mostly just stands there spouting stock advice like 'train hard' and 'use both feet'. Some of the humour based around the rubbish team and its 'English' coach is pretty funny.

On the negative side, apart from the wholly unoriginal plot, the acting is patchy and the script uninspiring. The depictions of actual play are particularly poor. Adugong herself looks a decent player, but the other girls, even the non-speaking extras, don't seem to have been chosen for footballing ability. This is fine for the rejects, but they're meant to be playing against the best teams in the state and these are no better. An example of the crude attempts to demonstrate improvement. The goalie is never shown making a save, and simply stands, watching the ball go past her, until the moment comes when she faces a penalty. On this occasion she lies down (rather than making any kind of athletic dive) and someone off-screen rolls the ball gently into her hands. Just pathetic. Maybe these film-makers know nothing about football and didn't take advantage of having Morgan on the payroll to find out. Or maybe they just don't care.

What annoyed me more than anything. In the USA, most boys, like Reagan's brother, play strictly local sports (and get very excited about them) possibly because they've never been able to cut it at the world's favourite. By contrast the US women's team is the best in the world, winners at the last World Cup and Olympics. Thus football is considered mainly a girls' game and that world-beating US national team has long had a female coach. This film seems to think girls' teams are always coached by men. When Reagan has to produce a parent to take over as coach, she chooses Dad, who has no knowledge of the game and never displays the least athletic ability. How come Mum, who couldn't have been any more useless, wasn't even considered?

Better than most football movies made by Hollywood.

[patriciogl10 · 6/10 · 20 September 2019]

I'm always reluctant to watch american movies about football, because I feel that they lack the real knowledge about the sport to appropriately put it into the big screen. But for Alex & Me, they got Alex Morgan, and she knows a lot about the sport and its mechanics. She is not only a great player, but she's also a smart player, which is something you always want to have in a team. Her presence in this film gave me a bit of hope regarding the treatment of the sport in the film, although not real expectations.

It turned out to be a moving film, filled with hope and dreams, not over-the-top dreams, but achievable ones according to the context of the film. A young girl trying to do what she loves, which is to play football, to do it well and to be victorious.

Overall, it's a nice, entertaining sports family film; Siena Agudong does a great job as the protagonist, Reagan. Plus, you got international soccer superstar, Alex Morgan. You'll have a good time.

Saccharine Soccer Film

[lavatch · 5/10 · 24 June 2018]

The late owner of the Oakland Raiders, Al Davis, would often say to his team, "Just win, baby!" This supposedly inspirational film about soccer is based on the Al Davis motto instead of focusing on team comaraderie and other positive values of competitive sports that should be the primary focus for young people. It is also grossly misleading to promote the view to kids that if you try hard and do your exercises, you can be like a one-in-a-million soccer star like Alex Morgan, whose nickname was "Baby Horse."

The film is so sweet and syrupy that in an outtake from the DVD bonus track, the father of the young soccer player is screaming at her to get in the car. Of course, he comes across as a monster and the antithesis of the All-American father character in the film, and hence the scene was never in consideration for the final cut.

There were other moments in the film that were laughable, especially the soccer player's older brother, who was being recruited by football programs at major colleges and universities across the nation. But the brother's physique never came close to looking like a football player unless he was trying out for the place kicker.

The best scenes in the film were the fantasy experiences when the young athlete imagines that she is being tutored by soccer icon Patricia Alexandra Morgan. The bonding between the mentor and her student was effectively realized by the filmmakers.

Another likeable part of the film was the action on the field in the soccer games that led to the underdog Breakaways making it to the Diamond Cup Finals and playing in Harris Stadium. Although the goaltending looked non-existent throughout the film, the strikers had some skills, and the game footage was exciting.

Overall, the film was an enjoyable trifle that introduced audiences to Alex Morgan and mentioned other great women soccer players like Mia Hamm and Abby Wambach. But it went overboard on the sentimentality, glossing over the downside of zealous parents prodding their kids to excel in competitive sports when what they should be doing is supporting their kids in enjoying childhood and growing up to be independently-minded individuals.

The outspoken and controversial soccer goalkeeper Hope Solo recently went on the record by saying that "Soccer in America right now is a rich white kid sport." But "Alex and Me" offered the opposite smarmy slant that soccer is the great egalitarian sport that represents an idealized vision of globalization. The reality is probably in the exact middle of those two extremes.

Fantasy Tale is Surprisingly Funny & Enjoyable

[larrys3 · 7/10 · 22 June 2018]

This is a fantasy tale so naturally some of the plot elements are just that--fantasy. However, I was pleasantly surprised at the humor and feel-good aspects of the movie, but it also can be a little too sugary sweet and predictable for my tastes.

Siena Agudong gives a most natural performance here as thirteen-year-old Reagan, who idolizes the soccer great Alex Morgan. When Reagan hits her head on a piece of furniture, one of Reagan's posters of Morgan comes to life and begins to mentor Reagan in her dreams of becoming a really good player. I might mention that Morgan is supremely gorgeous and a great athlete but her acting is a little stiff at this point.

Overall, if you take this movie, written and directed by Eric Champnella, for what it is, it can be funny and a feel-good flick that I would think the whole family could enjoy.

Clean, wholesome fun!

[hmusol · 7/10 · 21 November 2018]

Riddled with cliches and trophes, it still bears something you would care to watch one day. The young actress got some talent and Alex Morgan is better than most athletes you seen act(cough.... Shaq)!

Sweet.

[riddhimaakaritu · 6/10 · 14 September 2019]

Very sweet and heart warming. Nothing new but a feel good movie. ☺

Great movie!

[misswritercreates · 8/10 · 20 April 2019]

My dad likes sports movies so agreed to watch this with young adults. We all enjoyed it. Yes, it's intended for kids but us adults liked it too. Cute movie, would probably watch it again.

for kids

[chibullon · 9/10 · 16 June 2018]

This is a great kids movie not intended for adults but may enjoy it . I'm tired of vilent movies for kids that this is a graet movie for the familie. I't shows kids r o try hard and adults not to ignor and to be behind r hem 100%. I personatly prefer rhe Bad News Bears becouse it shows that you dont need to win to be aucsesfull.

Nice, clean and entertaining family movie about soccer.

[TxMike · 2 October 2018]

My wife and I watched this at home on BluRay from our public library. We thought the Oak trees looked familiar, I found it was shot in the New Orleans area, probably one of the suburbs like Kenner or Metairie.

It is about a 13-yr-old girl who wants to be a top soccer player, she has goals but we aren't quite sure if she is willing to work as hard as she needs to. She is played very convincingly by Siena Agudong as Reagan Wills.

She idolized professional Alex Morgan, has lots of Morgan things on her wall, including a life-sized poster. Reagan falls and hits her head, when she wakes up the poster is blank but Morgan is standing in front of her. Thing is everyone else thinks she is crazy because only Reagan can see Morgan and speak to her.

This story has a bit of "Bad News Bears" and "The Big Green" in it. Reagan wants to be on the elite team that wins every year but she is dismissed by the coach, then finds a team of rejects that aren't very good, with a coach who doesn't know anything about soccer. But with the help of Morgan, and eventually Reagan's dad, their team of rejects turn into a contender for the title.

There are a few scenes that play to the young teen rival cliche but in all it is a very nicely made movie with a good message - it is not enough to really want to be something, you also really have to work harder than everyone else.