The Pass *** (2016, Russell Tovey, Arinzé Kene, Lisa McGrillis, Nico Mirallegro, Rory J Saper) – Classic Movie Review 11,131

Russell Tovey stars as a closeted gay footballer in The Pass (2016).

The Pass (2016) has a witty, punning title. There is a football pass on the football field, which has a central significance in the drama. But this is essentially a tale of a physical ‘pass’ – a kiss between two young London male footballers that affects one of them for the rest of his life and career. Well, actually it affects both of them.

The 19-year-old Jason (Russell Tovey) and Ade (Arinzé Kene) are together in a hotel room in Romania the night before their debut game for the first team and they get over-excited. In the decade of fame that follows for Jason, he can’t get Ade, who he has subsequently snubbed and spurned, out of his mind. They are destined to meet again. Ten years later, Jason has fame and money, but is haunted, while Ade has quit soccer and settled down with a humble job and a boyfriend.

John Donnelly’s three-act play makes for an awkward, too-talky, rather stagey film, not opened up or expanded in any way by director Ben A Williams, and it is a sincere but rather depressing tale of sexual identity self-denial and the homophobia of the sporting world, and also of the destructive perils of celebrity. But Tovey and Kene give first-rate, convincing performances, getting right under the skin of their characters, and the play has something important to say and says it well. And that is, to quote a line in the film: ‘The whole world is full of people pretending to be something they’re not.’

The three acts are set in different hotel rooms. The first act with the two blokes horsing around is quite a lot of teasing fun. The middle act with Lisa McGrillis as Lyndsey, a woman who has arrived secretly to film herself having sex with Jason is much less satisfying or convincing. The final act is thoughtful but, yes, depressing.

Russell Tovey played Jason in the original play, which was performed in Royal Court Theatre in 2014.

© Derek Winnert 2021 Classic Movie Review 11,131

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