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Spongey wrote on 02/25/2012:

A soccer match between two teams that no one wants to play. The first team we meet are a bunch of flamboyant queens and their leader trying to keep their gayness to minimum. The other, a bunch drug addled, conflicted and crazy wanna-be thugs and their leader trying to keep their wackiness to a minimum. They all have one thing in common, they are all misfits of sorts and are desperately seeking respect.

It was sort of a poor man's "Bend it Like Beckham". There were so many players in such a small setting, it was difficult to keep track of all the bit players and it made it hard to care for any of them. Some of the humor and whimsy manages to shine throughout the movie, but then it is quickly sidetracked. There are too many side stories and tangents the movie veers off to, some better than others. None are ever adequately addressed. There were glimpses of where this movie could've gone, but it abandoned each one. A movie with an emphasis on certain characters might've been more compelling.

The acting was generally a bit over the top for my taste. Although there were some scenes that required it, most of the time I felt like it didn't succeed. I really wanted to like this movie but I just didn't. In the end, the movie left me feeling much as the match did, unsatisfied.

Amos Lassen wrote on 11/01/2011:

Comedy, drama and football come together in Rikki Beadle Blair’s. “Kick-Off”. The toughest team in the Sunday Soccer League is pitted against a gay team and the fun ensues. There is much going on off the field as there is on it and the team captains just want to play the game. The Bethnal Reapers have the reputation of being bad boys and no one wants to go up against them. But then there is Platoon FC, a group of openly gay players who like football and their captain who is “not gay” is determined to have his team play and be regarded like everyone else. However these boys are flamboyant and determined to show that closets are for clothes and that they can play football while clad in pink.

Elton Glixton, the referee suffers moments of grief when the teams start to play especially as he watches man on man action on the field. The film is a celebration of being young and we meet Archer, a macho “he-man” who had been an upcoming soccer star when he had to go into the army but now he is back and captain of a gay team. He has a boyfriend but he is not comfortable with his sexuality and his team embarrasses him by just being who they are. They threaten to come out to the opposing team of thugs and this could be a disaster for them. To make it even more interesting, Elton is refereeing his first match and when the whistle blows to start the game, things get really crazy.

Max, a foster dad of one of the gay players appears dressed in fuchsia and rants about why there are no gay professional soccer players. The movie is made for laughs and I do not always enjoy looking at bunch of gay stereotypes representing us so I found it at times to be a little too gay. The gay team shows no diversity and the members are all of the stereotypical mode which can be insulting to those of us who while out, prefer to be so without lace and frills. There are some real laughs and the film is certainly very campy but there are just a bit too many “characters”. Yet the movie does touch on important issues such as racism homophobia, steroids, drugs, ageism, gay dads and it does so in a way that is amusing. There are some wonderful lines and while it does reinforce those aspects of gay life that need no reinforcement, it is totally harmless.