Plot: What’s it about?
Sam Stanton (Mary-Kate Olsen) is a tomboy with immense athletic skills, well known for her abilities on the field. But her twin sister Emma (Ashley Olsen) is more interested in clothes, makeup, and of course, boys. When the local soccer tournament starts up however, both girls sign up and assume they’ll be part of their father’s team, which isn’t the case. Out of pity for his not so athletically gifted daughter, the dad chooses Emma for his top level Hurricanes team, which means Sam winds up on another squad. And we’re not talking about just any other team either, as Sam ends up as part of the Buzzards, the worst team in the tournament. In order to let Sam have a chance at winning and let Emma slack off, the girls decide to switch places and it works out well enough, at least for a little while. The two are soon discovered however, and soon enough, Sam is the star of the Buzzards and Emma is little more than a liability for the Hurricanes. But when the championship game rolls around, will secret talents be revealed?
As if the rest of the world’s obsession with the sport isn’t enough, now those wacky Olsen twins have taken up soccer. But of course, the focus is more fun and light comedy than the actual game, so don’t think this is a real sports movie, as it isn’t. Instead, this is just like all the other efforts from the twosome, in which they switch places, have loads of fun, get into some trouble, and then learn some kind of valuable lesson. I am not an Olsen fan by turn, but I’ve never hated their movies and while Switching Goals is rather thin, kids could do much worse. And it seems that if you like one of their pictures, then you’re bound to like them all, since so little changes between the movies, aside from settings and slight plot alterations. So no, I didn’t find Switching Goals to be wildly entertaining, but it wasn’t terrible either, it was just there. I’d imagine fans of the Olsen twins will be as pleased here as with the other movies, but if you’re not into their brand of entertainment, then Switching Goals will not make a fan out of you. But if you’re a fan of their work, then by all means check out this one, as it is no worse than the others.
Video: How does it look?
Switching Goals is presented in a full frame transfer, as intended. This is about what you’d expect from a direct to video movie with a few years behind it, a solid overall transfer, but nothing all that impressive. The image has some grain and slight wear signs, but nothing all that serious and on the whole, the picture is quite clean. The colors are bright and never smear or such, while flesh tones appear natural throughout. I found no problems with contrast either, as black levels were rich and refined at all times. Not the kind of transfer that could replace your current demo disc, but a solid one that handles the material.
Audio: How does it sound?
A basic, but acceptable stereo option is found here and while not too memorable, it covers all the needs of the material. The lack of dynamic audio is never an issue however, as this movie is rather reserved in terms of audio, save for a few sequences. The game scenes could use a boost, but still sound good, just not as immersive as I would have liked. I thought the music and other sound effects came through well enough, while dialogue is crisp and never muffled or hard to understand in the least. This disc also includes alternate language options in Spanish and French, as well as subtitles in English, French, and Spanish.
Supplements: What are the extras?
This disc includes some talent files, as well as the film’s trailer.
