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Once in a Lifetime: The Extraordinary Story of the New York Cosmos
  • Studio: ESPN
  • Release Date: Jul 7, 2006
Metascore
67 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 18 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 15 out of 18
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 18
  3. Negative: 0 out of 18
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  1. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Lisa Schwarzbaum
    91
    It's a stylish scramble of evocative footage, groovy music, and crazy-candid reminiscences from key players still proud to score.
  2. Portland Oregonian
    Reviewed by: Shawn Levy
    83
    Funky, scrappy, dishy, screwy story of that star-studded, gilded squad.
  3. Chicago Tribune
    Reviewed by: Kevin Williams
    75
    You don't need to be a soccer fan to, like Cosmos fans, fall for this captivating tale, told in "Rashomon"-like style.
  4. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: Jack Mathews
    75
    Once in a Lifetime performs a belated autopsy on the Cosmos and the North American Soccer League and basically concludes that they died of impatience.
  5. New York Post
    Reviewed by: Lou Lumenick
    75
    Once in a Lifetime, which is being released at the peak of World Cup fever, is the sort of sports documentary that will appeal even to nonfans. It's a quintessential only-in-New York story.
  6. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: G. Allen Johnson
    75
    What fun this documentary is.
  7. TV Guide
    Reviewed by: Maitland McDonagh
    75
    Crowder and Dower's film is a refreshing reminder that without Ross and the Erteguns, pundits would have had to coin an entirely different term to describe "soccer moms," since without the Cosmos' brief and shining moment in the sun, suburban soccer leagues would be as rare as collegiate boccie tournaments.
  8. The Hollywood Reporter
    Reviewed by: Frank Scheck
    70
    This tale of the team that for a brief period in the 1970s promised to popularize soccer in the U.S. has it all: heroes, villains, sex and, oh yes, some sports as well.
  9. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Kevin Crust
    70
    An exuberant look at a heady moment in America's soccer past that is well worth remembering.
  10. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Jeannette Catsoulis
    70
    This is a movie so unabashedly in love with its subject that even audiences who don't know Giorgio Chinaglia from Georgie Best will leave the theater grinning.
  11. Variety
    Reviewed by: Leslie Felperin
    70
    While soccer fans will rep the core aud, even non-fans can enjoy.
  12. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Desson Thomson
    70
    Informative and entertaining.
  13. Austin Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Marc Savlov
    67
    Once in a Lifetime's only major failing is the fact that the iconic Pelé is seen only in period footage.
  14. The A.V. Club
    Reviewed by: Scott Tobias
    67
    Once In A Lifetime is less a proper documentary than an extended VH1 Behind The Music episode, but there's only a little bit wrong with that.
  15. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Wesley Morris
    63
    The movie is only so-so, borrowing a little from the VH-1 school of popumentary but lacking the snazzy production values.
  16. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: Bill Gallo
    60
    This intermittently fascinating documentary chronicles the rise and fall of the Cosmos --which is also the rise and fall of U.S. soccer.
  17. L.A. Weekly
    Reviewed by: Joe Donnelly
    50
    Though the movie promises a Behind the Music–type look at the meteoric rise and tragic fall of the Cosmos -- a team (if the press notes are to be believed) overwhelmed by wealth, groupies, rivalry and power struggles -- it all adds up to a tempest in a tea pot.
  18. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: Jonathan Rosenbaum
    50
    Despite the title, this is less a soccer documentary than a corporate hagiography along the lines of "The Last Mogul" or "The Kid Stays in the Picture"; its real hero isn't Cosmos star Pele (who wisely declined to be interviewed), but Steve Ross, CEO of Warner Communications, which owned the team.
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User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
6.3 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 4 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 2
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 2
  3. Negative: 0 out of 2
  1. James
    9
    Tells the story with humour and verve, and it’s hard not to be a little bit nostalgic for the days when 70,000 people would crowd into Giants stadium to watch “the other football.”… Full Review »
  2. RobertF.
    8
    Both entertaining and informative. You'll learn a lot about the birth of mainstream interest in soccer in America.
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