Aaron Altaras, left, and Max Hubacher in Mario (Wolfe Releasing)

Using professional soccer as its setting, this German film asks the timely question of whether homosexuality can ever be accepted in professional sports. Mario (Max Hubacher), a promising young semi-pro player, has dedicated his entire life to his and his father’s shared dream of going pro. Then a new recruit, the dashingly handsome Leon (Aaron Altaras), joins the team, and Mario is immediately taken with him. To make matters even more difficult, Mario and Leon are given an apartment to share during training. During a late night of video games, one thing leads to another and the two spend the rest of the season sharing a bed.

Mario isn’t so much a romance film, as the love affair is established pretty early. Mario isn’t struggling with his sexual identity. In fact, one of the more charming aspects of the film is his platonic friendship with his best friend, Jenny (Jessy Moravec)—who seriously could have used some more screen time; she’s the only person with whom Mario seems relaxed. The bulk of the story line is about Mario’s prospects of making it on the main team, at which point he will become a true pro soccer player and perhaps rich and famous. The problem is that while Leon is his lover and his teammate, he is also his competitor for a spot on the squad.

When the true nature of their relationship is leaked to the team’s management, the men are urged to keep their homosexuality a secret—because the organization has built a public image of the team that doesn’t have room for two gay players. The managers ask Mario and Leon to keep their relationship within the bounds of their shared apartment and, for good measure, start being seen with women in public. So their dramatic choice comes down to whether or not they are willing to play along with the PR charade to better their chances of achieving their lifelong dreams.

That premise promises so much intrigue, but sadly the filmmaking is very basic: a succession of stationary camera scenes in which characters stand around and divulge their feelings to each other. There’s an utter lack of any kind of cinematic language. Not even the soccer scenes carry any intrigue.

More importantly, neither of the lead actors seems very invested. Perhaps this is the director’s intention to portray Mario and Leon as vacuous athletes who shove their emotional needs way down in the interest of vying for fame and fortune, but this conceit isn’t obvious. Some scenes do call for the actors to behave awkwardly regarding the public relations and legal aspects of their relationship, but the vibe coming from the entire cast is that they don’t even want to be in this film. In the end, Mario doesn’t score.