Doppio fallo

This moves pretty well through the various expected clichés: losing one's group identity while forging a new one, showing the group who kicked you out you're better than them, guys who cheat eventually lose, love conquers all.

Funny, too. All the usual stereotypes are presented, with the over-the-top characters being balanced by the more authentic core characters. Nice symbolic use of gold-toned lighting to highlight original innocence, once lost now returned.

The score is fun and well-paced. The ending is more Indie than expected and thus more satisfying.

Yes, it has been done before-- an "against all odds" sports film. But this film tackles the genre in a funny, laugh-out-loud way. An odd assortment of characters-- some eccentric but all pretty much everyday folks-- are well-presented. The dialog is witty, the romance is sweet and the film is well-paced. You really root for these characters-- you like them and care about them. A light and fun two hours with no heavy messages or polemics. Sure, the film is predictable but the humor and the fact that you care for the characters prevents the rolling of eyes and the restlessness that often comes when you know what is ahead of you in a film.

Ecki is goalkeeper for the soccer-team in his small hometown in Germany (near Dortmund). After losing an important game, his mates accidentally find out that he is gay. They throw him out of the team. Out of anger and hurt he dares them to play against a gay team. Ecki has only four weeks to build this team and train them.

The movie plays with clichés in a hilarious and yet pleasant way. Good looking guys, leather and chains, love, revenge, and soccer. Witty dialogues and good action. Highly recommended.

I found the movie very entertaining, sometimes it was pushing the stereotypes, but it was never ever insulting. Actually it was a gay friend that recommended me to watch the movie. As a matter of fact, the movie portrayed gay men as very diverse showing different personalities with different attributes. It is a great comedy, not comparable to ridiculously and sometimes even offending movies like "Traumschiff Enterprise". Maenner wie wir paints a very positive picture of gay men and does hold a very supporting view in a comedian fashion. In fact, every major character shows understanding and respect for gay men by the end of the movie. I have to add that I thought the acting of Eckis parents (Saskia Vester and Dietmar Baer) was just great.

Director Sherry Horman and writer Benedikt Gollhardt have not introduced any new ideas in 'Männer wie wir' ('Guys and Balls') - team sports dependent on camaraderie, outsiders getting the last laugh, coming out stories with sports as a background, homophobia to the max, and stereotypical depictions of gay men - but they have created a movie that has enough charm to get past all of the above. It is that kind of movie that makes you groan 'Oh no, not again', but then ends up making you feel warm and sentimental despite yourself! Ecki (a very charismatic and hunky Maximilian Brückner) has grown up in a rural town, the son of a baker, and a committed soccer fan since childhood. Now as a young man he is sought after by his girlfriend Cordula (Melody Sitta) but is unable to respond to her advances. As the popular goalie on his soccer team he is hailed until quite by accident he is discovered in warm embrace with a teammate: the teammate and the team trash him for being gay, his father (Dietmar Bär) throws him out of the house, and poor Ecki departs for Dortmund to live with his sister, swearing to his team that he will return with a gay soccer team to defeat the homophobic jerks.

Ecki and his sister Susanne (Lisa Potthoff) pair off to find gay team players and find them they do, in the strangest places (this is where the film sags due to the stereotypes the director elected to cast). Ecki creates a solid team, falls in love with his sister's co-worker nurse Sven (David Rott) and despite some minor setbacks, the team boards the bus to return to Ecki's hometown to face off the enemy home team. Yes, it ends as you would imagine, but along the way the writer and director manage to make a few healthy comments about being true to yourself and your convictions.

Despite everything predictable about the film, the actors - Brückner, Roth, Potthoff, Bär, Carlo Ljubek, Saskia Vester et al - bring a homespun credibility to the story. This is one of those films that requires forgiving its shortcomings to just enjoy the ride.