The Match (La partita)นัดชี้ชะตา (2019) [ บรรยายไทย ]

The Match (La Partita) is another film for Netflix’s ever-growing pile of international content. The Italian comedy-drama is the first feature-length effort by director Francesco Carnesecchi (credited as Frank Jerky), who may have his work cut out for him: making a soccer movie that stands out from the many, many Euro soccer movies out there.

The Gist: The suburbs of Rome. Sporting Roma is a hapless football club that has never ever ever ever won diddly-crap in decades. Decades! It’s game-day, the last game of the season. A paltry crowd gathers to shout and squabble with each other as the teams face off on the dusty dirt pitch. Antonio (Gabriele Fiore) seems to be the star player, outrunning his opponents and juking them out of their cleats, but his shots on goal sail over the fence as if he’s aiming for the moon. Curious. Coach Claudio (Francesco Pannofino) is flustered. Roma’s getting its corn royally creamed — 3-0 at halftime.

Antonio’s father, Paolo (Fabrizio Sabatucci), watches the game intently. His wife calls to get on his case for skipping their niece’s first Communion. Team president Italo (Alberto Di Stasio) sits in the club bar; he can’t bring himself to watch the game. Italo’s son, Leo (Daniele Mariani), is a slickhaired douchetype who’s hooked on cocaine; he wants to spend 50,000 euros to cover the humble, filthy field with artificial turf. Claudio calls his wife, who’s pregnant; she holds the phone to her belly hoping he can hear the baby kick, but of course he can’t hear it, don’t be ridiculous.

Two plot balls drop so this isn’t just another game for Sporting Roma to lose. Turns out Italo bet the entirety of the club that they’ll win. Coincidentally, Paolo bet on them to lose — and told Antonio to throw the game. So there will be multiple levels of winning and losing today, literally, morally and metaphorically.