'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,/9j/2wBDAAYEBQYFBAYGBQYHBwYIChAKCgkJChQODwwQFxQYGBcUFhYaHSUfGhsjHBYWICwgIyYnKSopGR8tMC0oMCUoKSj/2wBDAQcHBwoIChMKChMoGhYaKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCj/wgARCAAGAAoDASIAAhEBAxEB/8QAFAABAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAB//aAAgBAQAAAAAAfv/EABQBAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAP/2gAIAQIQAAAAL//EABQBAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT/2gAIAQMQAAAAV//EAB4QAAICAgIDAAAAAAAAAAAAAAECAwQAEQUSBnGh/9oACAEBAAE/AKflIa3RDcbVTpNGzuhbbaPvIuaiSNFFDsFAG2tS7P3P/8QAFhEBAQEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAQIA/9oACAECAQE/AKkN/8QAFxEBAAMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAEQABA//aAAgBAwEBPwDC1Z//2Q=='%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Astonishing. Intimate. Definitive.They could try calling it a documentary, and I’m sure they have, but don’t be turned off after you are done watching Cristiano Ronaldo’s larger than life movie, which many have suggested would have been more appropriate if released after his retirement. The man is 30, and he is hungry. Do you really think he could wait that long?Also, I’m glad a movie like this was made. Is it the perfect documentary? No, it’s far from it. It looks and sounds too movie-like to call it that. But what it provides instead is some insight into the life of players for whom the game of football is just not a game. This movie is perhaps what the Real Madrid player needed. This is a movie about a man, rather an alpha male, surrounded by his loved ones yet left alone quite often, only pushing his son Cristiano Jr. to become a bit more like him.This is not strictly a review but rather a watch-through. If you are not willing to watch the entire movie, this article should help you with that. To watch or not? That’s up to you.
#6 Ronaldo knows very well that he is Portugal\'s lone warrior
The stress that got to him following Portugal’s elimination from the 2014 FIFA World Cup was quite apparent in the movie. The way he was depressed after returning back home presented his weak side, a side fans are usually not aware of.
Portugal were eliminated in the early stages of the tournament, but the 4-0 loss to Germany was perhaps most hurtful for the man who is obsessed with winning. Especially since he played the match while suffering hard and troubling thigh and knee injuries.
There is a scene in the movie where Ronaldo's mother hurries to the medical store the day after the 4-0 loss to deal with her grief, and of course, she goes on to let Ronaldo know about it. Ronaldo then convinces his mother that it’s just a game, not a matter of life or death. It makes you wonder if his mother is more competitive than him, right?
Speaking of Portugal's horrible World Cup campaign, there are several situations in the movie which establish Ronaldo’s rank as the team's primo-supremo player. Portugal defender Bruno Alves complains to the team manager that there isn’t any ice in the bus despite several requests made by him and that if it had been Ronaldo's request, there would be two suitcases full of ice the next day! It is worth mentioning that Ronaldo was standing right next to Alves when he said that. Weird?!
That's not it. Ronaldo knows that he is always given special treatment in the Portugal team camp and that the team is heavily dependent on him. He is seen saying in the movie, “I wish there were more Ronaldos in the team. But there are aren’t!”
#5 Jorge Mendes loves Cristiano Ronaldo like his own son
I wasn’t surprised to see Ronaldo’s agent Jorge Mendes feature in the documentary as one of the main characters. The super agent, who has managed to be closely associated with almost every other Real Madrid or Chelsea player in the world right now, keeps telling the world how much he is in love with Ronaldo.
I believe there isn’t anyone in the world who believes in Ronaldo more than Jorge, and that is quite apparent in the movie.
“This is my special son,” Jorge repeats, affirming that he is not just Ronaldo’s agent, something that the latter would agree to in the movie. It is during a family dinner celebration following Real Madrid's 3-1 win over Barcelona when Mendes’ level of admiration for Ronaldo is most vividly presented.
“I am obsessed with him,” he says while pointing at Ronaldo. “But he deserves it. It’s not because.. you couldn’t be everything you are. I fight for you every day. I feel very proud to be able to fight for you every day. I want to do it with conviction. You deserve it. You’re a lot more than I could ever do for you! It's nothing. In terms of your value, I could do twice what I do. It’ll never be enough to be up to your level, your quality, both human and sporting qualities. You’re a monster!”
“This is the best in the world. The best footballer. The best sportsman. There’s really no doubt about it. Everyone will recognize that. No one will be indifferent to that. I’m proud to be standing next to a guy like this because it’s truly an impressive thing,” he concludes as someone from the table screams, “Give him an Oscar!”
If this isn’t true love, then I don’t know what is. And that’s not it. Mendes’ relationship with Ronaldo’s son is also very close, to whom he is a godfather. He even claims that Ronaldo’s mother is the second best mother that there ever was, and is seen adoring Ronaldo’s brother right after reminding him of his unfortunate days when the latter was submerged in the drinking valley.
Mendes is basically fam.
#4 Ronaldo\'s deep relationship with his son
Throughout the movie, if there was one thing that I felt was very consistent, it was Ronaldo’s understanding about loneliness, and how his son, Cristiano Jr. is the only one he lets into his world where he eternally searches for success. There are several remarkable father-son scenes in the movie which give away a lot of insight into their lives.
It's almost as if Ronaldo is bringing up his son in such a fashion that the latter is almost a mirror-image of his father when he is grown up, and I believe there's a deep meaning to their relationship.
Ronaldo's father José Dinis Aveiro is mentioned on several occasions in the movie, but what stood out was the portrait of his father. It sits by the wall right behind where Ronaldo and his son have their meal to start the day. It is like a constant reminder to Ronaldo that he has to be a better father for his son than his own father ever was.
The movie talks a lot about how his father was driven towards his love for liquor, but not his family. Ronaldo reveals how his father was mentally almost never there for him, and that he never really shared an intimate moment with his own father.
I would like to think that Lionel Messi isn't the only source of motivation for Ronaldo be a bit better. His father is very much a source of motivation too.
#3 Why did Ronaldo join Manchester United?
“I was with Juventus, Inter, Milan, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia.. everybody wanted Cristiano. Everybody!” his agent Jorge Mendes tells a friend over dinner as he is introduced in the movie. “But they all wanted him to stay with Sporting Lisbon for one more year, and to sign him the following season. And they were preparing contracts. There was a club who offered me €8million."
This is the point where Mendes starts selling himself as the world's best agent, which he probably is. "Any other agent would have sealed the contract, but not me. I told Cristiano, ‘Come! Come here!’ The most important thing for you is your career. It's not money at the moment."
"And, thanks to God, Sir Alex Ferguson (then Manchester United manager) came and told me, ‘Jorge, leave him with me, and I promise you he will play at least 50% of the games.’
Then he goes on to say, "Nothing is impossible my friend because Sir Alex Ferguson promised me he would play half of the games. That is the story,” and he finishes the conversation stating, “Nothing is impossible” about three or four times. At this point, Jorge is pretty much past-drunk, but it is an interesting insight into what convinced Ronaldo to move to Old Trafford in the 2003-04 season.
#2 This movie is about Ronaldo being better than Messi
If there is one footballer who could be rated higher than Ronaldo, it’s Lionel Messi. In the movie, not many footballers have made appearances. You get to see Marcelo, James Rodriguez, Rio Ferdinand and a few others off the pitch, but they don’t really get a lot of screentime. Messi, however, is almost portrayed as an antagonist in the movie to a point where he is referred to as 'the other guy'.
"The other guy could destroy everything," one of Ronaldo’s close friends is seen telling Ronaldo’s agent Jorge Mendes during Real Madrid's 3-1 win over Barcelona last October.
A few events that made the rounds of the news when Ronaldo won the Ballon d'Or managed to fit into the movie quite cleverly – like the meeting between Ronaldo's son, Cristiano Jr, and Messi just before the award ceremony. And, of course that 'SIIIIIIIIIIIIIII' celebration after Ronaldo was handed the award. Too perfect to be real?
Ronaldo also talks about his relationship with Messi in the movie, being more frank than ever.
“I think the rivalry is always created by the press. My relationship with Messi was much better last year. We have spoken more about ourselves. He had asked me about my injury, how my old injury was from the World Cup and my family. I looked at him not as a rival but as a person who makes me a better player and I make him a better player. We are always busting out balls to see who’s better.”
While Ronaldo might have been more modest than his usual self in the movie, his agent and relatives were quite transparent about their views on him being better than ‘the other guy’.
#1 Ronaldo\'s discipline and the best moments
Sepp Blatter is corrupt. I loathe what he stands for, and he has done a better job than many at making a fool out of himself. But the man was unquestionably right about one thing – Cristiano Ronaldo is like a military commander, one who has more expenses for the hairdresser than most of us. And, by the looks of it, he was not wrong.
If the movie is trying to sell one point, it is that Ronaldo is not your usual lanky footballer. He is a product of several years of hard work, commitment, sacrifices and apparently a lot of doing from his agent, Jorge Mendes.
He is an early riser. He makes sure he is well-dressed and well-groomed, and starts his day by eating breakfast with his son; the two sit right next to each other with a portrait of his deceased father hanging on the wall right behind them.
He drives his own car. There aren't a lot of maids to be seen. He is pretty much a man who likes to be accountable for himself.
He is a man of discipline, and the movie highlights that on more than one occasion. Just like a commander, Ronaldo is a man who is always thinking ahead; planning ahead. Sure, he is seen talking a lot about living in the present in the movie, with soothing music and lights and pools surrounding him.
But you know, I know and even he knows that that isn’t entirely true. This movie is well-produced and well-edited, and that was only possible because of Ronaldo’s commitment to the job. Be it football or a documentary, Ronaldo gives it his best.
This is a great movie in terms of production. The soundtrack is top-notch. There are several clips of Ronaldo from the old days – and I mean several. So many, in fact, that after a point I was asking myself if Ronaldo knew he was going to make a movie about himself for ages. This kind of commitment is what makes Ronaldo special.
Ronaldo singing a Rihanna song was perhaps one of the best moments to take away from the movie.
The meeting between Ronaldo, Cristiano Jr. and Lionel Messi that made the rounds of the news nine months ago is also pretty special. It’s like a fairy tale coming to an end where both the antagonist and protagonist make amends.
The movie reaches its initial climax scene right after this as both of them go on to the stage for the Ballon d’Or award ceremony with Ronaldo winning it. You can hear the ‘SIIIIIIIII’ celebration too which was quite cinematic.
