User Reviews

The movie "Barefoot" chronicles the life of Hamid, an Afghani boy who suffers the loss of his parents, subsequent poverty and trials due to his circumstances. A football coach invests in him and allows him to play football and teaches him the game. Dubbed "water boy" because he sells water, he is subjected to prejudice from other footballers, but through it all, he becomes a great football player and leads Afghan to the 2008 Homeless World Championship in Australia. This is a "feel good" movie from the start as you already know the outcome before watching. The director and writers use the plight of Hamid to highlight Muslim Prophet sayings in support of the fatherless and, in a bit of a "preachy" way, show how Afghani people generally ignore such sayings, in an effort to bring attention to the apparent disconnect. While the movie script is basic at best, the English Captions are a bit too literal, at times making it difficult to follow, and the acting is poor, this movie still tugged at my heart, bringing pity and concern for fatherless children. The ending shows actual footage of the "street football" game, ending with Afghan's victory. Not the greatest movie ever made, and not well acted or well scripted, but I still enjoyed it. If you like to pull for the underdog, I think you will enjoy it too.