LFG

"LFG" (2021 release; 104 min.) is a documentary about the US Women's National Soccer Team's law suit against the US Soccer Federation, demanding equal pay (as compared to the Men's National Soccer Team). As the movie opens, we get brief glimpses of Jessica McDonald, Megan Rapinoe, Kristen Press and others, explaining what "LFG" actually stands for (sorry, can't tell you or my review will violate review standards). We then go to "Day 1, March 8, 2019, International Women's Day", when the law suit is filed and the ladies explain in detail how things like money, training resources, traveling conditions (hotels and planes) are heavily skewed towards the Men's National Team, even though the Women's National Team is far more successful (multiple World Cups wins and Olympic Gold Medals). The law suit comes just 3 months before the 2019 World Cup opens in France. At this point we are 10 min. Into the documentary.

Couple of comments: this is the latest from Oscar-nominated documentary makers (and husband and wife) Andrea Nix Fine and Sean Fine. Here they get seemingly unfettered access to many stars of the US Women's National Soccer Team as they battle for glory in the 2019 World Cup and they battle their employer (US Soccer Federation) for better (if not equal) pay. As to the documentary itself: it clearly shows the heavy toll the law suit takes on these ladies, while the USSF deploys any and all possible means (including law firms and lobbyists) to block the law suit at every possible level and instance, just disgraceful frankly. When Rapinoe makes a comment that then-President Trump trashes in a tweet, Rapinoe pushes back. Good for her. Lest anyone forget: Trump is the guy who tried to overthrow the US Congress because he didn't like the Nov '20 presidential election results (which showed who he is: a lyin' L-O-S-E-R). As to the substance of the law suit: this is an economic issue that should be easily resolved with a verified audit of the revenues generated by the Men's and the Women's soccer team. Instead the USSF argues that women are "inherently inferior" to men. No, really, they claim that with a straight face. Bottom line: this documentary is inspirational on so many levels. Hats off to the makers of this film, and of course to the women soccer players, who under tremendous pressure deliver on and off the field with grace and determination and skill (and whereas the US Men's National Soccer team embarrassed the game and didn't even qualify for the most recent World Cup).

"LFG" premiered at the recent Tribeca Film Festival and then went straight to HBO Max a few days ago, where I caught it the other night. If you have any interest in the state of soccer in this country, or how women continue to face gender discrimination to this very day, I'd readily suggest you check this out, and draw your own conclusion.

Gonna cut straight to the point here. Men enjoy sports more than women on average. Pro female athletes have nobody to blame for them being underpaid but other women. The average women does not care about womens sports at all. That is why womens sports is so low. Do you expect an audience to be entertained by a slower less skilled version of a sport? This is an equal world, the demand is entertainment... money talks.... its not the men teams fault that women are slower and less skilled on average in every sport. Men get more viewers so they get more money. Women get less viewers so they get less money.

And if you would like to argue that the women should be paid more because they win more thats a decent point but its massively overshadowed by the fact that nobody cares about womens sports. Nobody is gonna watch a watered down version of an entertainment product. You can claim sexism all you want, but then ask yourself why roughly 8/10 women dont care about womens pro athletics to any degree.

Every person on here will cry foul play, and then themselves and every other female family member they have wont watch a single WNBA game in their life.

Almost every claim made by the lawyer in the documentary is a bold-faced lie.

-The women's team was offered the exact same pay structure as the men, but they did not want that contract, they collectively bargained for a different type of contract. Afterwards they realized that the original contract meant they would earn more, and so they claimed discrimination. Let me emphasis : They claim the contract that they wanted, that they negotiated for (because they didn't like the pay structure of the men's team) is discrimination against them. A complete joke.

-This contract includes paid maternal leave, health care plans, and about 2 dozen other benefits that the men's team simply does not get.

-This contract meant that when all soccer was cancelled due to covid, the women's team continued getting their guaranteed 100,000 payment. The men earned 0 dollars during this season.

-So if anything, the men's team gets to argue pay discrimination, not the women's team.

-The women's team wasn't being paid less than the men's team, they were being paid MORE. Not just in total, but on a PER MATCH basis.

-The women's team gets a substantially larger cut from the women's world cup earnings than the men from the men's world cup.

The women's team does not want equal pay. They want the low risk contract that they had previously, combined with the high reward that the men's team wants. In other words, they want a contract that is superior to the men's contract in every way.

This whole documentary is nothing but lies and a PR spin to back up pure entitlement.

Edit : Addressing some of the arguments made in the other reviews :

-"The women's team brings in more revenue." No, no they don't. They bring in more revenue in the United States, but international soccer is an international sport. On an international level, the women's team brings in substantially less revenue. The women's world cup finale only brings in as many viewers as the average men's world cup match. And even if only the revenue in the US counts, the revenue split was about 100 thousand out of around 50 million. The difference in revenue brought in was SMALLER than the difference in pay. And to emphasize this again : The women's team earned MORE. Not just in total, not just per match, but also relative to the amount of revenue generated in the United States!

-"They work 3 times as hard." That's another demonstrable lie. The women's team only has to play a maximum of 3 matches in order to secure a spot on the women's cup. The men's team has to play a maximum of 10 matches to secure a spot on the men's cup. In 2018, there were 210 men's world teams who try to qualify, while there were only 46 women's teams in 2019. Which leads to the next argument.

-"The women's team is better, so they deserve more." The women's team is only better relative to the other women's teams than the men's team is to the other men's teams. Only 4 other women's teams have won the world cup, while 8 different teams have won the men's world cup. Considering national women's teams tend to not have any other women on the same level to play scrimmage matches against, they instead opt to play against teenage boys. At which point they lost 7-1 to boys under 15. They're not even better than middle school boys, how are they better than adult men?

A lot of people are upset with this film from a political basis but have nothing to say as to their opinions on the actual documentary because they're too blinded by rage. I hope I can give an unbiased take on the film!

First of all, the arguments: Even though the USSF didn't give an on-camera interview, they still did a great job of representing the other side's main points. It's obviously an opinion doc, so it counters each point. Duh. They could probably have done more of these counterpoints, but considering the USSF declined an interview and this is blantantly a documentary with an agenda, I'm not upset with the amount they did.

Second, did I like the film itself? Hell yeah! It was really engaging and immersive, and I felt like I got to know the two main soccer players they interviewed really well. The little detours and breaks it took here and there just made the emotional connections to the players and the issue stronger. They provided context that made the actual legal battle all the more meaningful for me as a viewer.

Finally, the film was super motivational. Even if you disagree with the premise, you have to admit that these women work really hard against some tough odds. They don't brag, either. They show that they do what they do because they have self-respect, belief in their cause, and a underlying drive to make the world a better place. You can't fault them for lack of tenacity. I admit it makes me want to do something like that in my life- to make the world a little fairer for a future generation.

Oh, and last but definitely not least, the music kinda rocked. There was this one acapella concert song that played a few times and first it could me a bit off guard, but by the end, when everything came to it's hesitant conclusion, it felt super epic and meaningful. And that wasn't the only bop in the soundtrack!

Overall, an engaging, inspiring, well-made doc. I recommend it. Even if you disagree with equal pay for women's sports- give it a shot. Just for shits and giggles.

This documentary does a great job of telling the story of the Women's National Soccer Team and their ongoing journey towards equality. I am quite frankly stunned by the negative reviews that have been left on this site by people who likely believe women do not deserve equal access and equal pay. The women in this documentary are still playing as the number one team in the world while being paid less than their male counterparts who didn't even qualify for the last World Cup.

As an attorney myself, I believe the film did a great job of showcasing the legal fight that happens while engaging with a lawsuit and how damaging summary judgement decisions can be when Judges are able to be the sole deciding person.

This documentary should be celebrated along with the Women's National Soccer Team that made it possible. People need to hear this story and understand the prospective of the women who have had to work twice as hard to still be given less than men.

Cheers to the creation of this documentary!