Sherry Hormann
Allemagne 2004
111min German o.v. English s-t.
A light-hearted, feel-good German comedy that bends it like Beckham with a story that has plenty of balls. Ecki works in his parents’ bakery and plays goalie for the local soccer team. His life starts to fall apart when he lets in a shot that loses the team its chance to move up to the regionals. And it all goes to hell a couple of drinks later when Ecki suddenly finds himself kissing one of his team-mates. Outed, ridiculed and booted off the team, Ecki nonetheless pulls himself together and challenges his former team to a match against an all-gay soccer team. There are just two small problems: the team currently doesn’t exist and the match is only four weeks away. Obviously the odds are against the almost comically optimistic Ecki, but somehow he manages it anyway. However, the fun of this film isn’t the game per se – it’s more about its alternately hilarious and tear-jerking take on the usual gay suspects: the beer-swilling closet case; the leather daddy who lives in a dungeon with his two cubs, but is reduced to tears because his son is disappointed by him; and the super-sissy Turk who loves David Beckham. In the middle of all this, Ecki falls in love. Taking the piss out of homophobia without being cynical is quite an accomplishment. Guys and Balls manages to do just that. – SF
Shown on:
sunday, november 13, 7H15 PM parisien 6 - pgm80 (Crash + Guys and Balls)