On the weekend of the biggest football game of the year, it was only natural that I saw a movie about basketball. Or rather “Roarball,” as the anthropomorphic animal characters call it – but it’s basketball.

When he was just a kid (pun intended), young goat Will (Caleb McLaughlin) went to Roarball games to root for his hometown Vineland Thorns and cheer on his favorite player: panther Jett Fillmore (Gabrielle Union). Will’s mother (Jennifer Hudson) encouraged him to dream big, and he dreamed to be as big a Roarball player as Jett. Ten years later, Will is a struggling delivery boy, his mother has passed, Jett has never won the league’s championship, and the Thorns’ warthog owner (Jenifer Lewis) is too busy with mud baths to make any effort to improve the roster.

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Will can’t make a career for himself because he’s too obsessed with Roarball. And he can’t get ahead in Roarball because he’s too small. Actually, he’s more of a “medium” in a world that includes rodents and such, but every high-profile player is bigger than him, so he’s considered “small.” He answers an open challenge for a one-on-one game to three points laid out by visiting superstar Mane Attraction (Aaron Pierre), and the horse beats him 3-2, but everyone in Vineland is impressed that he was able to score two points Yes, his star rises because a heavily-memed video of his performance “goes viral.” Against the wishes of Jett, who wants a proper teammate for what will likely be her final season, he’s signed to the Thorns.

Teammates on the Thorns include paternal pachyderm Archie (David Harbour), aging giraffe Lenny (Stephen Curry), self-doubting ostrich Olivia (Nicola Coughlin), and out-of-his-mind Komodo Dragon Modo (Nick Kroll), as well as put-upon monkey coach Dennis (Patton Oswalt). It’s not hard to see why the team is in last place, with all the neuroses in play, compounded by Jett’s constant frustration. At this rate the team will be out of contention before Will can even come off the bench.

Despite a rocky start, Will soon proves himself useful, able to slip between large, lumbering players and make long-shots from far-off places on the court. Aside from his playing, his optimism is infectious, both with the fans, who drive up ticket sales, and his teammates, who start playing better with his inspiration. Even sour (literal) puss Jett has some of her best days in years around him. Then there’s an ugly chapter where business gets in the way and egos affect morale (every sports movie has one) and the team basically breaks up, but of course everybody rallies and puts in their best efforts for the big final game against Mane Attraction’s team.

So the story isn’t going to redefine any (figurative, this time) playbooks. So the humor can be obnoxious at times with all the self-aggrandizing characters. So it’s obvious that the movie was written around the lazy premise of an athlete wanting to be the Greatest Of All Time… and he’s an actual goat. The movie is still a delight at a time when delightful movies are in short supply. Its biggest strength is its rapid-fire gag delivery, even if a joke misses, you can be as sure as there’s at least one played out screaming goat gag in this movie that there’s another one right around the corner. “GOAT” isn’t what I would call a “great” animated offering, but it’s not ba-a-a-a-a-ad.       

Apologies.

Grade: B-

“GOAT” is rated PG for some rude humor and brief mild language. Its running time is 100 minutes.

Contact Bob Garver at rrg251@nyu.edu.