Mario

First and foremost...this film should not have - by any stretch of the imagination - an '18' rating. There's no violence, there's no frontal nudity [a few butt-cheeks, not enough!], there's no drug abuse...it's just a tender and tense love-story between two young men. It's is wholly ridiculous...considering most soap operas have more controversy and age inappropriate scenes crammed into their [usually] miserable 30 minutes...yet, Mario is rated 18!!!

Mario is a no-nonsense, straight-forward look at homosexuality in football. Everyone knows it exists...it's a ludicrous notion to think it doesn't...but, quite a few brain-cell deficient football fans actually do believe that their 'alpha-male' idols are unequivocally, no-doubt-about-it, 100% hands-down heterosexual...well, babies, they once said that about priests!

Now, the film-world is not exactly over-flowing with gay football films. There was the lamentable & heavy-handed The Pass (2016) and, in the same year, the - rather wonderful - short film Wonderkid - there have been others: Guy and Balls (2004), Eleven Men Out (2005), KickOff (2009) - but, these are fussy little light-weight comedies...and then, there are the documentaries...most notably, the Justin Fashanu 'tragedy'.

Mario is neither a comedy nor a tragedy. This is about hard choices and thick skin...if you can't take the [homophobic] stick then stay off of the [footballing] pitch! It sounds fairly similar to the Don't Ask, Don't Tell debacle!

Until all sexual orientations are accepted and fully embraced by all sexual orientations...compromises are always going to be the rule rather than the alternative. Marcel Gisler's well-acted film shows this compromise from the only two perspectives that exist...there's the living-the-lie for a greater [personal] glory [aka fame & fortune]..or, there's the sacrifice, give it all up for self-preservation...it all depends on how thick your skin is! Harsh, indeed it is...but, that's still the reality.

Will Mario change hearts and minds? Unfortunately, no...and our only quibble with the film, the marketing/packaging. This was marketed as a gay football film, why not a football film that just happens to have a couple of gay footballers? A whole new [bigger] audience!

But...it does leave you with ample food for thought: If faced with the same opportunities, what would you do?

A fine film that will - no doubt - elicit many heated, gin-infused discussions.

Trailer...