Written by John Donnelly
Directed by Ben A. Williams
Jason: "If I need a wife and kid... yeah, if I need to fuck a woman... or a man... you know what, or a fucking apricot for that matter, then that's what I do."
If I was going to keep with these LGBT themed reviews for Pride Month, of course I was going to include a sports themed one. The sport in question being football with an emphasis on two characters over a ten year time period.
In a way, this was a movie split into three. While there was an emphasis on two footballers, the focus was predominantly on Jason (Russell Tovey), a very laddish individual who was in a hotel room with his fellow teammate, Ade (Arinze Kene). To say there was tension between the two would be underselling it.
At first in the hotel room, there was some fairly expected laddish banter that got really uncomfortable when Jason decided to do blackface in front of Ade, which enraged the latter who also did whiteface in retaliation. However, neither of that didn't stop an unexpected election and a kiss between the pair that certainly created unresolved issues between the two.
Then there's a five year jump in a different location and another hotel room. In order to quash the gay rumours, Jason hired a woman named Lindsay (Lisa McGrillis) to sleep with him and leak a sex tape. This was also Jason's harebrained scheme in order to stop his estranged wife from outing him to the press.
It's by this time in the movie, we get to see how truly conflicted Jason was as a character. This is a man who'll brag about his clout as a footballer and revel in being promiscuous while at the same time resorting to the biggest extremes to conceal his sexuality. Lindsay rightfully chewed Jason out on his bullshit before making sure she got double her payday.
The last act included another five year jump, a different location and a different hotel. We got a reunion between Jason and Ade and a round up of how different their lives turned out. Ade's football dreams ended too quickly but he seemed happier being a plumber and being an out gay man. No matter how Jason attempted to undermine Ade's more settled life, Ade mostly rose above it.
However the inclusion of straight hotel worker Harry (Nico Mirallegro) saw both Jason and Ade hashing out their anger towards each other. Harry was a bit of an idiot but Jason definitely pushed him a bit too far. As for Jason and Ade, this movie didn't really resolve their issues but instead arguably left things worse than before.
- Russell Tovey previously played the role of Jason in the stage production of this movie two years before it was released.
- Both Jason and Ade watched another teammates sex tape, when the former wasn't mocking the latter's religious father.
- Standout music: James Vincent McMorrow's Look Out and Moscow Youth Cult's Like A Machine.
- Chronology 2006 Bucharest, 2011 London and 2016 Manchester.
I certainly enjoyed The Pass. Great performances from both Russell Tovey and Arinze Kene with the former being vexing but compelling and the latter being more sympathetic of the two. Its a movie that doesn't outstay its welcome while also offering a decent commentary on football culture and gay men.
Rating: 8 out of 10
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