Show Cover

You know what the happiest animal on Earth is? It’s a goldfish. You know why? Got a ten-second memory. Be a goldfish, Sam.

# Review

Jason Sudeikis plays Ted Lasso, an upbeat and optimistic American DII college football coach from the Midwest. Ted is hired to coach the fictional Premier League football club AFC Richmond. Ted, along with his assistant Coach Beard (Brendan Hunt), are thrusted into the deep with no experience at all with soccer and tasked with turning around a failing club. Little do Ted and Beard know, the owner of AFC Richmond, Rebecca (Hannah Waddingham), hired them in order to sabotage the club to get back at her ex-husband Rupert (Anthony Head).

I really liked Sudeikis from We’re the Millers and his performance as Ted is even more charming and likeable. The supporting cast were all likeable too, such as the meek Higgins (Jeremy Swift), the Director of Football Operations at Richmond, the austere Trent Crimm (James Lance), a journalist for The Independent, and the shy Nate (Nick Mohammed), Richmond’s kit man. One of my favourite aspects of the film is how they nailed the archetypes of the actual footballers, such as the narcissistic star Jaime Tartt (Phil Dunster), the ageing veteran Roy Kent (Brett Goldstein), and the young international Sam Obisanya (Toheeb Jimoh).

The writing is very good and while the show has moments of immature fun, there is also much depth to the story. The show is very mature but uplifting. Ted’s guidance towards his players is filled with wisdom and the film deals with many themes pertaining to relationships, such as Jaime’s relationship with his model girlfriend Keeley (Juno Temple) and Ted’s relationship with his estranged wife (Andrea Anders). My girlfriend was watching over my shoulder and eventually decided to watch the show with me due to the show being not only about football. The show has many raw moments such as Ted’s struggles with mental health and moments where characters are vulnerable. The cast really shines during those moments. The cinematography and set design were also excellent and portrayed what the atmosphere is like during matchday in pubs and at the stadium.

# Conclusion

I'd get Apple TV just to watch this.

# Overall rating: 8.6

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