The notion of “a feel-good German comedy” is one thing, as
is the surface impression of a movie called Guys
and Balls. Director Sherry Horman’s film, though, is as baldly a piece of sunny
mainstream entertainment as one can imagine for a gay-themed German flick. Eagerly
pitching woo in the fashion of underdog sports and blue-collar tales Bend It Like Beckham, Hardball and The Full Monty, soccer flick Guys
and Balls sails by somewhat thinly on the charms of its lead.
newcomer Maximilian Brückner, above right) has had
one overriding passion ever since he was a little child — soccer. Now, as a young adult, he’s the goalie of a
small-town club team. On the same day he accidentally lets down his teammates
in an important match, though, they discover he’s homosexual, and promptly give
him the boot from the squad. Seeking revenge, Ecki sets out to form an all-gay
team with a little help from his supportive sister Susanne (Lisa Marie
Potthoff). They draft a washed-up soccer star (Rolf Zacher) as their coach, and
things come together in fine, if somewhat paint-by-numbers fashion — a trajectory
which, naturally, includes a new love interest for Ecki in the form of Sven
(David Rott). Eventually, though, Ecki must cross paths with his former squad, paving
the way for the ultimate grudge match.
Guys and Balls is for the most part an
attempt at a gay-themed crowd-pleaser through and through. Screenwriter
Benedikt Gollhardt is apparently a German television writer, and his sitcom
instincts are borne out in somewhat winning fashion herein. For those worried
about such things, the jokes aren’t pitched in too steep a culturally specific
fashion, they’re far more rooted in character. Some of the supporting
characters are thinly imagined and lean heavily on yawn-inducing stereotypical
humor (the leather-clad, Village People enthusiast, etc.), but it’s more to do
with the economical strokes of the genre than any real laziness or misanthropy.
If arthouse, queer and sports flicks all interest you, this curio exists at
their intersection.
anamorphic widescreen on a dual layer disc, Guys
and Balls comes with two German language audio tracks, in Dolby digital stereo
2.0 and Dolby digital 5.1 surround sound. English subtitles, naturally,
complement the release. There’s a bit of edge enhancement attached to the
image, but nothing too sustained or irksome. Unfortunately, there are no
supplemental features save for a collection of preview trailers for similarly
themed films and series, like Third Man
Out and Dante’s Cove. C (Movie)
D+ (Disc)