This absolutely charming and thoroughly entertaining coming of age tale from Norway explores such universal themes as friendship, honesty, family, puberty, bullying, confronting your fears and, of course, football. Jo (Ask van der Hagen) is a bright boy, but since the death of his father in an unfortunate accident he is very fearful. He would love to be on the soccer team, but his overprotective mother worries about injuries. He also is fond of Mari, the bright new girl in school, but cannot work up the courage to approach her. And he is also being bullied at school by the nasty Tom Erik, who forces him to do his homework, and is afraid to stand up for himself. As Jo is confronted by decisions, he works through the various consequences in some wonderfully amusing flights of fancy. All of the boys are into collecting football cards with an almost obsessive passion, and the Holy Grail is a rare card featuring the goal keeper of English A League club Liverpool. With an insightful script and sympathetic direction from Arild Andresen, making his feature film debut, The Liverpool Goalie is a real winner. The performances of the children are natural and affecting, with young van der Hagen excellent as the frightened, mousy Jo.