The Pass

I had the pleasure of watching this film during the 2017 Outfest Film Festival in Los Angeles and all I kept thinking to myself is WOW! This film was so well done and real to life. I actually know several personal friends who have chosen the path of career over finding true love. The results can be loneliness and missed opportunities. This film shows three different stages where love opportunities where missed over career goals. There are many levels to this film so I won't give anything from this film away. You MUST watch this film with an eye for details for there are many layers of story being told simultaneously. The actors were superb. Specially the main character who carried the film very well with conviction and authenticity. Kudos to him. Highly recommended. Beautifully done and executed.

I almost skipped this film due to some bad reviews I read about it, and therefore was surprised to find that it is quite enjoyable and interesting. Acting is great, especially Tovey Russel's performance which I found excellent in spite of a somewhat exaggerated character script. I admit the subject treatment is a bit outdated, and the script is more suitable for chamber theater than for a film. But still, this is a very good gay flick.

Russell Tovey and Arinzé Kene are two young football players on the verge of having bigger careers when they share a hotel room the night before a big game. The titular moment happens, and then we see the fallout five and then ten years later in two different hotel rooms.

I was struck by the large disparity between how much I wanted to like this film and how little I really did. It was adapted by John Donnelly from his successful play, and it's one of the most clear "adapted from a play" films I have seen with three equal length acts involving a couple of people standing in small rooms and talking. It's a film where I really liked it's overall arc, but didn't really enjoy much of what it took to get there.

It does have a truly heroic amount of very ripped, shirtless men, so that will add an extra element for many viewers.

This was such a pleasant surprise. I truly did not know anything other than this being an LGBT- film, and boy was it more than that. It's not exactly an LGBT romance film, and surely not one of a couple blossoming. Instead, it's a quiet heavy and quiet dark character study of one broken man. Arinzé Kene is very good and I hope this helps him get more roles, but it's truly Russell Tovey's film and he delivers. I thought he was quite good in Looking, but I never knew he would be possible of the deeper places he goes to here. It's an incredibly performance that should stand as one of the year's best.

I've just watched "The Pass". It was much more rewarding than two other reviews on this site might suggest. I think that they were deliberately posted by homophobes in order to diminish the attractiveness of this movie. To confirm my view, I'd just suggest that you consider the "External Reviews" on this site. All of the English reviews are overwhelmingly positive, which makes me think that there are some people out there who try, very deliberately, to denigrate or otherwise diminish the quality of any gay themed movies.

Now, to the movie itself. It's a tale of two young footballers, one black and the other white. While they feel a certain attraction to one and other, it is only in their later lives that they are able to come to terms with it. I think it to be a really good movie with interesting messages.

Just how beautiful is "The Beautiful Game"? Only you can determine that. But I thought this to be a good and thoughtful movie. Russell Tovey was believable, handsome, beautiful and excellent in his role, as was his counter-part, Arinzé Kene. Two good-looking men. They are just surprised when they are attracted to one and other.

I give the movie 8/10 for its honesty in examining relationships between men. It's a subject which is not often covered in the movies.

If you choose to watch it, then I trust that you will enjoy it.