Once in a Lifetime: The Extraordinary Story of the New York Cosmos
2006 · 97 MIN · IMDB 7.2 · 1,559 VOTES · DIR. Paul Crowder, John Dower
Overview
In the 1970s the North American Soccer League marked the first attempt to introduce soccer to American sports fans. While most teams had only limited success at best, one managed to break through to genuine mainstream popularity - the New York Cosmos. The brainchild of Steve Ross (Major executive at Warner Communications) and the Ertegun brothers (Founders of Atlantic Records), the Cosmos got off to a rocky start in 1971, but things changed in 1975 when the world's most celebrated soccer star, the Brazilian champion Pele, signed with the Cosmos for a five-million-dollar payday. With the arrival of Pele, the Cosmos became a hit and the players became the toast of the town, earning their own private table at Studio 54. A number of other international soccer stars were soon lured to the Cosmos, including Franz Beckenbauer, Rodney Marsh, and Carlos Alberto, but with the turn of the decade, the team began losing favor with fans and folded in 1985.
Dialogue Timeline — 1,116 lines
A SAMPLE ACROSS THE RUNTIME — EVERY LINE IS SEARCHABLE
00:00:07 'Goal!'
00:04:36 for the first time wonder what's going on.
00:08:33 and a collection of parking lots into a media empire.
00:12:09 'and get the media sponsorship and television attention,'
00:15:39 I said, "Well, what would you say if I said no?"
00:18:51 They wouldn't give us the time of day, so I bought them soccer magazines
00:23:27 'more than just indifference
00:27:15 And he couldn't believe it!
00:30:44 He couldn't care less if he comes and plays here or not.
00:34:31 'Finally, something about an extraordinary man from Brazil...'
00:38:09 "Look at my feet. I have a fungus that I have contacted here.
00:41:47 'Now that the world's most famous athlete was in New York City,'
00:46:04 scored a lot of goals...
00:49:40 He shook his head and walked out of the locker room.
00:53:10 Not recognizing that two cents a share was $5mn!
00:57:01 Beckenbauer's first game was a 4-2 loss to arch rival, Tampa Bay.
01:00:24 'when Bobby Smith scored, he never looked at us,'
01:04:57 You walked out there and all of a sudden, one by one
01:09:07 its own league record
01:12:35 The most coveted beat in this country.
01:17:01 'The Cosmos are going to Portland!"
01:20:46 Soccer failed. It didn't have to.
01:24:22 But in the end he was left with a tsunami of red ink that he couldn't ignore
01:28:18 'Many years later I looked at the photograph again