KickOff isn’t very good, but it doesn’t inspire the same sort of ire that bad movies tend to. The gay and lesbian community has set up a fairly intricate network in order to support films like these, which are made by its members almost exclusively for those who might catch it at a festival or order it from a gay-specific catalog. As you might guess, KickOff is pretty insular in its appeal, but it’s not exclusionary, and it’s in no way hostile towards those outside of its target (at least those who don’t pose a direct threat anyway).
The narrative plays out nearly in real-time, as a gay soccer team plays its first match against a straight one (identified respectively by their pink and blue shorts). Much of what happens you could probably anticipate, in terms of the back and forth that is relayed between them, and the larger social issues that this game is meant to condense. A little more surprising are the ways that writer/director Rikki Beadle Blair finds to keep diverting from the central action of the game, in the form of numerous interoping hangers-on, lovers, and community officers. Surprising, but not necessarily compelling. Most of them feel designed to extend the running time of this film to feature-length, while the central premise here could support a short at most.
A few of the actors here show some promise (mostly by not playing jokes in the most broad possible way), but even the best among them can’t make much of the dialogue they’re given. But even when the writing is at its sloppiest, there’s a certain conviction to its stated themes of self-acceptance that makes it hard to dismiss completely. Whether or not they’re ever presented in a particularly adept way, they seem genuinely reflective of the network of support that the LGBT community has built for itself. Given the volume of movies with completely abhorrent values, there’s no reason not to give KickOff some due.
Bonus Features
There's a behind the scenes featurette, crossbar training video, trailer, and a music video for Adrenaline.
"KickOff" is on sale January 17, 2012 and is not rated. gay-amp-lesbian. Written and directed by Rikki Beadle Blair. Starring Jay Brown, Jason Maza, David Chrysanthou, Stephen Hoo, Ian Sharp, Sasha Frost, Ludvig Bonin, Michael Lindall.
