"Mario" isn't the first film to tackle the subject of what it must be like to be gay and a professional footballer and while it's no classic, it is a vast improvement on "The Pass". Of course, it's also a love story and as such it's nicely done. Mario and Leon play for the same team as strikers; they also share a flat and they hit it off from the start. Actually, it's probably all a bit too convenient that they're gay and fancy the football shorts off each other and I'm sure it's no co-incidence that both Max Hubacher, (Mario) and Aaron Altaras, (Leon), were cast as much for their looks as their acting abilities.
However, where the film scores, (no pun intended), is in taking the whole issue of homosexuality in football seriously. Mario and Leon's sexuality gets out and has to be denied. The club, supposedly, is behind them, their fellow players make homophobic jibes, if it becomes public their careers would be over etc. It's an issue largely ignored in the cinema so it's good to see it being dealt with now. At two hours it's still a little on the long side but it's well written and directed and both leads are fine, particularly Hubacher who brings considerable depth to the part of Mario and who obviously has quite a future ahead of him. As an addition to New Queer Cinema it is also both bitter-sweet and prevalent.
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