‘GOAT’: Pacy sports drama

Set in the world of competitive athletic animals, ‘GOAT’ is a highly imaginative, energetic basketball story. Co-directors Tyree Dillihay and Adam Rosette’s entreaty is beautiful and motivating.

Being small in size is not a detriment to greatness in any sport — that is the inspiring message of this film based on the true life exploits of NBA legend Stephen Curry. Incidentally, Curry is credited with producing the film and voicing Lenny, a giraffe.

The story details the exploits of a young goat, Will Harris (Caleb McLaughlin), on the basketball… oops… roarball court. Despite having the skill with the ball akin to that of a magician, he is overlooked for selection in the team because of his size.

Will’s aspirations of becoming a professional roarball player, with his favourite player, a black leopard, Jett Filmore (Gabrielle Union), is not happening, but he gets entry after going viral in a face-off game against Mane Attraction (Aaron Pierre), a horse.

Thorns Team owner Flo (Jenifer Lewis) works with has-beens — giraffe Lenny (Stephen Curry), ostrich Olivia (Nicola Coughlan), Komodo dragon Modo (Nick Kroll) and Indian rhino Archie (David Harbour).

Under Coach Cooper (Patton Oswalt), the team is on a losing streak. Jett is the leading scorer in roarball history, but he hasn’t been able to lead his team to a Claw — the equivalent of an NBA championship. Flo is interested in adding Will to the team in an effort to generate a positive spin for the struggling Thorns, but Jett is not enthused.

The story feels familiar and predictable. ‘Zootopia’ had a similar underdog storyline, though the lead character comes from a different profession.

The story has moral wattage and the vocal performances make it inviting. The impressive cast of voice actors supports the engaging visual calisthenics, designed to keep the young audiences enraptured. The animation is generally nippy and the narrative is pacy. Initially, while Will is struggling to make it, the animation feels choppy but it smooths out as he gets closer to achieving his ambitions.

The editing and camerawork allow the feel of social media feeds whenever required. The matches are seen from screens within screens, the surrounding noise generating interest.

The hyper-real computer animation is a treat. Vineland and the various sports venues look believable. Will is designed to look like Curry. The standard of animation may not be the best but it’s pretty high.

The film may fail to rouse emotion but its sports backdrop, animal-centred engagement, competitive spirit, ambitious layout and entertaining take on memes and social media trends make it amenable to a young audience. The familiar story does not take anything away from the entertainment value this film delivers.