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'Once in a Lifetime' chronicles a team and an era
by Eleanor Ringel Gillespie

The kicky soccer documentary "Once in a Lifetime: The Extraordinary Story of the New York Cosmos" accomplishes the minor miracle of making you mourn a sports team you likely never knew existed in the first place. Chronicling the improbable rise and disappointing fall of the New York Cosmos, the most famous and successful team in the now long-defunct North American Soccer League, the film captures those few heady years in the '70s and early '80s when America teetered on the brink of joining the rest of the planet in its passion for football (the kind that doesn't call for helmets, shoulder pads and 43-inch necks). Read the full review

TO SUM UP
A documentary on the New York Cosmos, the team that brought Brazilian soccer star Pelé to the United States. Swept up in a careening path of glory, glamour, debauchery and controversy, the Cosmos themselves imploded.

FILM FACTS ...

Miramax Films

'Once in a Lifetime: The Extraordinary Story of the New York Cosmos'

Directors: Paul Crowder and John Dower
Cast: Johann Cruyff, Franz Beckenbauer, Shep Messing, Werner Roth, Giorgio Chinaglia
Run time: 97 minutes
Release date: July 7, 2006
Rating: Rated PG-13 for language and some nudity.

On the web
Official movie site
View the trailer
Trailers require Quicktime

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READ THE REVIEW

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: B
"... one of those sports films that transcends its particular sport."