Fulboy (2014)

Waste of time

Very disappointing...

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

Football is the Argentinian passion par excellence, given the access this director had (and probably only merit) this film is a real waste of opportunity. The director also narrates along the film, claiming to be only an observer but a minute later engaging in discussion with the players. He doesn't seem to be able to read a poorly redacted text fluently, accurately and with expression. Arguably, the only thing that comes across in a crude but clear way is the homosexual urge of the one holding the camera, his obsession with bulges and foot fetishism. I would only suggest not to invest time on this film or at least not to pay to watch it.

My title says it all, this is a documentary about a football team in Argentina, it is supposed to be a total access all areas with revealing interviews etc. And to a great extent that is exactly what it is.There are shower scenes and some male nudity and that seems to be the angle being pushed – and it falls way short of that particular sales pitch. Then as a revealing football documentary it is also somewhat banal with players moaning about being called names when they are sheeit on the pitch. Where I did like it was the social commentary and the shots of the fans. Some of these were insightful and funny. I really like the kids saying to one player 'go and play cards instead' – in England we tend to infer that they have a slavish addiction to 'onanism' – as an alternative.If this wins any awards then I would put money on the fact that Sep Blatter was behind it. So a bit of a hotch potch and not a very original one at that. I feel my three stars is probably being glass half full - so if in doubt best got for the rental option as I did.

Film-maker Martín Farina's brother played for an Argentine football club. Using this connection, Farina gained permission to make a 'fly-on-the-wall' documentary about the club; 'Fulboy' is the result.Within the first few minutes of the film, Farina shows some of the players naked in the shower; that dissolves some tension for the viewer! It's also one of the few times we see the players' faces and (tatooed, shaven-legged) bodies in the same shot; for much of the film, Farina concentrates on extreme close-ups which mean it's difficult to know whose body parts you're looking at. Farina's other film-making flaws include focusing on just one participant in a conversation (who is the other person talking?), starting filming in the middle of a conversation (what are they talking about?), filming just one participant in a telephone conversation (what is the other person saying?), and filming with far too much loud background noise. The second, third and fourth complaints, especially, make it difficult for the viewer to work out what is going on.The most major flaw of the film, however, is that shared by all 'fly-on-the-wall' documentaries: people being filmed probably do not behave as they would do when they're *not* being filmed. In the case of the footballers in 'Fulboy' that means additional testosterone-fuelled bravado - for instance, a player's heartfelt homily about the sacrifices professional footballers make is quickly undermined when one of his teammates is filmed wiping his nose on $10 bills!I saw this film at the 2015 London LGBT Film Festival organised by the British Film Institute, but it shouldn't be pigeon-holed in such a way: apart, perhaps, from the shower scenes and a few bulge close-ups there's very little homo-heavy content. Whether there's enough actual substance to warrant the film gaining a wider distribution is another question.