Pelé: Birth of a Legend (2016)

Genre: Biographical

Directed by: Jeff Zimbalist and Michael Zimbalist

Cast: Kevin de Paula, Seu Jorge, Mariana Nunes, Vincent D’Onofrio

Time: 107 minutes

This is a biographical film about Pelé, the world-renowned Brazilian soccer player, that covers the period between his impoverished youth in the Brazil of the 1940’s to his success in the World Cup of 1958.

While the story of Pelé is highly inspiring, from a rags to riches point of view, this film suffered from a deep lack of depth. The storytelling is formulaic and it remains on the surface a little too much. Some of the dialogue also felt fabricated, especially in one particular scene where the young Pelé is talking to a friend. Kids never would have discussed these subjects with those words. What we got is an Americanized version of the story.

All that being said, in spite of its clear flaws, Pelé: Birth of a Legend remains an interesting film about a very inspiring person.

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