The Pass, 2016.
Directed by Ben A. Williams.
Starring Russell Tovey, Arinze Kene, Lisa McGrillis and Nico Mirallegro.
SYNOPSIS:
The night before their debut match for the first team, two teenage footballers can’t sleep for excitement. They tease each other, fight, prepare their kit – and then something unexpected happens. Something that, ten years on, neither of them can forget. Nor can they ignore the effect it’s had on their lives, years filled with fame and failure, secrets and lies – and all in a world where image counts for everything.
It’s taken just two years for John Donnelly’s play, originally staged at The Royal Court, to make it to cinemas. It’s still very much his, as he’s adapted the script for the big screen, as well as bringing back nearly all of the cast from the original production. And if the subjects tackled by the theatrical version of The Pass were pertinent in 2014, they’ve lost none of their edge or topicality two years on.
Donnelly’s adaptation makes no attempt to conceal the film’s origins. It’s divided into three acts – the first, where Jason (Russell Tovey) and Ade (Arinze Kene) are teenagers, sharing a hotel room on the eve of a Champions League match, their first appearance for the first team. The second is in another room, five years later, and concentrates on an encounter between Jason and a pole dancer who isn’t all she seems. And the third is another five years on, with Jason considering his future as a footballer and Ade, now out of the game, paying him a visit.
That’s the structure. The storyline is that the banter and horseplay in room number one disguises something more between the two. They eventually kiss and that, plus what follows, has a profound effect on both their lives. They go their separate ways, Ade giving up football and becoming a plumber, Jason reaching the top of his career, but losing his wife and children on the way and finding himself all but burnt out as he approaches 30. Not just physically but mentally as well.
Confining a film to the space inside four walls can be restricting. But here, it’s turned into an advantage, gripping the audience right from the start and allowing the film to deliver emotional intensity in spades. The tension crackles and builds rapidly in the first scenario as soon as it becomes apparent that there’s more to their banter than meets the eye. And it stays there throughout.
The title doesn’t only refer to what happens in that hotel room: it’s equally about the match itself. The two discuss what they would do if one of them had the ball and the other was in a better position to score. Shoot or pass? Although we never see it, the hypothetical becomes reality the following day and the outcome dictates the course of their footballing careers. Ten years on, Ade is out of the professional game, but he’s also found the courage to be honest with himself. He has a loving partner and, while he hasn’t Jason’s money or fame, he’s fulfilled and contented. Jason is the opposite, trying to convince himself that he’s straight and knowing all the time that he’s lying not just to himself but everybody else.
As teenage players, they both face the same pressures, especially when it comes to their sexuality: the film makes it very plain that football is no place for homosexuality. After that fateful match, the strain piles up on Jason. He’s made his name, but doesn’t dare reveal the truth because his career is more important. As he points out, with no little irony, the world is full of people pretending to be something they aren’t.
By the time the third part is under way, it’s easy to see how things are going to pan out and the film fizzles out a bit too easily. But that doesn’t prevent the film from being a gripping, sometimes prickly, watch. Much of that is down to the performances from the two main actors. Tovey, especially, is on fire as the successful player constantly running away from the truth about himself, while Kene’s teenager grows up into a more sensitive, more mature adult.
Admittedly, The Pass is something of an actor’s piece but, given its cast, that’s not a criticism. A thought-provoking and moving watch, it doesn’t deserve merely a pass. It gets a distinction.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★
Freda Cooper – Follow me on Twitter, check out my movie blog and listen to my podcast, Talking Pictures.
Originally published December 8, 2016. Updated November 14, 2019.
