One of the fascinating aspects of attending aGLIFF was the "I" in the festival name: International. The festival showed a number of foreign-language films this year, which provided Austin (and American) audiences with the opportunity to see how gay and gender issues are addressed in other countries. Eleven Men Out provides a glimpse into gay culture and its acceptance (or rejection) in Reykjavik, Iceland.

Eleven Men Out begins and ends in a sports arena. Ottar Thor (Björn Hlynur Haraldsson) is a professional soccer star who decides, after scoring an amazing kick to win a championship game, to come out of the closet. He's essentially kicked off the team, and his father, one of the managers, keeps trying to convince Ottar to change his mind. Ottar's teenage son Magnus (Arnaldur Ernst) is disgusted and convinced that Ottar doesn't care about him and the effect his coming-out has on his own life. Ottar's ex-wife Gugga (Lilja Nótt Þórarinsdóttir), an alcoholic former Miss Iceland, is only concerned because Ottar won't sleep with her anymore. Ottar's friend Pétur gets him involved with an amateur soccer team with a few gay men on it, which suddenly becomes labeled "the gay team," causing all kinds of trouble. Other teams in the league forfeit games rather than have to play with gay men, but the team itself becomes stronger and more confident as more gay teammates join. Here's the oddest thing about Eleven Men Out: The title and the description might make you assume that the film will follow a traditional pattern for sports-themed movies. We've all grown up on the Hollywood model in which we watch the rag-tag team of losers learn their valuable life lessons and improve as a team even if they don't win the big game in the end. But Eleven Men Out doesn't include any soccer games. We see the team suiting up for a match, or out on the field just before or after practice, but we never get a glimpse of the amateur team actually playing soccer. I don't know if the film's budget made sports choreography prohibitive, or if the filmmaker simply wanted to make sure the focus of the film was on the characters, and not on sports. Americans may find the lack of any sports, especially at the end, to be a bit of a letdown.

The teammates themselves are barely distinguishable from one another, and little time is spent with them in the film. But the focus of the film isn't on sports or even teamwork; that just holds the film together. Eleven Men Out is about relationships, mainly family relationships, and the wide-ranging effect of Ottar's decision to publicize his homosexuality. The movie spends considerable time showing us how Ottar's interactions with his son and his ex-wife have changed, as well as Ottar's attempt at a relationship with another man. The film also contrasts Ottar with his brother, who is continually abusive to his wife, and in fact to any female -- in one scene where his mother is upset in bed, he's only concerned about where his dinner might be. Still, Orri is accepted in ways that Ottar is not.

Eleven Men Out relies a little too much on gay stereotyping for humor, culminating in a big Gay Pride Day celebration. I did like the scene in which Ottar's father lures him to dinner by telling him his mother is very ill. It's sitcom-level humor, but still elicits laughs. The movie has some lovely moments, including one with Ottar and Gugga late in the film, but for the most part the drama and humor don't quite mix as well as they should. While Eleven Men Out is an interesting look at how Icelandic society deals with homosexuality, the film doesn't hold together as solid entertainment for American audiences.

For another take on the film, see Martha's review from New Directors/New Films.