I thought of Marco Berger in quite a positive light after seeing two of his films, The Blonde One (2019), and Hawaii (2013). Both were excellent. Both were mature works, and visually interesting, with very engaging plot lines.
Having since watched The Carnival (2021), Young Hunter (2020), Taekwondo (2016), and this film, I've pretty much changed my mind about this director.
I thought Taekwondo was extremely slow moving and boring, with little to no discernible plot. Horseplay follows in the footsteps of Taekwondo, but with a bit more sexy visual confection (which is really the only reason I even assigned it the extra star.). There are definitely some sexy guys, and sexy scenes. But it doesn't offer much more.
Okay, actually, the vacation house where all this horseplay takes place is pretty to look at too.
But the movie seems to go on and on, magically making 1 hour 40 minutes seem like about 6 hours. The dialog is vapid, and repetitive.
It's filled with testosterone, but has virtually no substance.
There might almost be a couple of plots hidden in this film, but they're so well hidden that they cannot be seen. When you think there might be a story line starting to materialize, it invariably turns out to be a red herring that goes nowhere. A quiet gay man amongst a group of rambunctious young friends who constantly insult each other by calling each other "homo," while taking endless pictures of themselves engaging in gay sex (horseplay, I guess)? The sexual violation of a girl visiting the house, against her will, by one of the guys? Nope. The leaking of an embarrassing "homo" image of one of the guys whose wife sees it and worries her family will be defamed on social media? Those didn't go anywhere.
There is one searing moment at the end of the film that might hint at a story line. But hey, everyone's gone home, and the credits are rolling.
If all you're looking for are some glimpses of young guys at their sexual summit, you might enjoy this. But even there, there's just so much boredom in between that it's not really worth it.
Having since watched The Carnival (2021), Young Hunter (2020), Taekwondo (2016), and this film, I've pretty much changed my mind about this director.
I thought Taekwondo was extremely slow moving and boring, with little to no discernible plot. Horseplay follows in the footsteps of Taekwondo, but with a bit more sexy visual confection (which is really the only reason I even assigned it the extra star.). There are definitely some sexy guys, and sexy scenes. But it doesn't offer much more.
Okay, actually, the vacation house where all this horseplay takes place is pretty to look at too.
But the movie seems to go on and on, magically making 1 hour 40 minutes seem like about 6 hours. The dialog is vapid, and repetitive.
It's filled with testosterone, but has virtually no substance.
There might almost be a couple of plots hidden in this film, but they're so well hidden that they cannot be seen. When you think there might be a story line starting to materialize, it invariably turns out to be a red herring that goes nowhere. A quiet gay man amongst a group of rambunctious young friends who constantly insult each other by calling each other "homo," while taking endless pictures of themselves engaging in gay sex (horseplay, I guess)? The sexual violation of a girl visiting the house, against her will, by one of the guys? Nope. The leaking of an embarrassing "homo" image of one of the guys whose wife sees it and worries her family will be defamed on social media? Those didn't go anywhere.
There is one searing moment at the end of the film that might hint at a story line. But hey, everyone's gone home, and the credits are rolling.
If all you're looking for are some glimpses of young guys at their sexual summit, you might enjoy this. But even there, there's just so much boredom in between that it's not really worth it.