Last Match, The

By: Raymond Murray
In-House Review - Aug 05 2013

Arguably the sexiest and most romantic gay male film of 2013, The Last Match is set in a poor, steamy Havana and centers on an intense love affair between two hitherto heterosexual young men.

Reiner and Yosvani (Reinier Diaz and Milton Garcia) are best friends and soccer mates. Handsome Reinier, in order to support his mother, wife and their baby - as well as his gambling habit - prostitutes himself at night to older male foreigners along the waterfront. Meanwhile, the shy Yosvani is reluctantly engaged to a girl and lives with her and her bombastic loan shark father.

After a furtive kiss at a nightclub, the two young men, barely containing their pent-up desire, follow up with a lusty roof top encounter - where the two quickly fall hard for each other. And as their love intensifies, the challenge is not with them but with the unforgiving outside world... a world they so desperately want to escape from.

The two leads, Reinier Diaz and Milton Garcia, are charismatic and unforgettable as the super-charged lovers in this drama directed and co-written by Antonio Hens (Clandestinos).

By: chromoman

Yes, this is one more film depicting a hustler just trying to get on with his life, and to escape his surroundings; That synopsis would generally be enough to dissuade me from exploring this film any further. Yet this film -- while not straying very far from the usual tropes of the genre -- has something more to offer: a gritty view of a rarely seen foreign world, the impoverished ghetto slums of Havana. You know the set-up: a sexy rent boy by night, by day trying to use soccer as an escape from brutal poverty. Toss in a john (Juan, in fact) who might offer a possible ticket out. Add to the mix a flirtation with one of his soccer buddies, and stir lustily. It is a heady stew of sex, money, and maybe love. There is a curious underlying hypocrisy which pervades this world, where it seems openly accepted that heterosexual young men will sell their sexual services to rich foreign tourists for money, as long as they maintain their swaggering machismo; and yet it is anathema for two men to have a sexual relationship out of affection for one another. Same old story? Perhaps, but with an unfamiliar setting, giving us an uncommon peek into life in modern-day Cuba. 4 out of 5 stars

By: Cal

By: Amos Lassen

As physically close to Cuba as we are, we are just now beginning to learn about the way LGBT people are treated there. Surprisingly, what we have recently heard is quite positive. However, we see in "La Partida" that for the young, it is not easy to love. Reinier is a teen hustler yet he falls in love with one of his friends from soccer. He has been driven by making money-he has a child to support, a young teenage wife and he is also caring for his wife's grandmother but he never seems to be lucky enough to get what he wants. Yosvani, his friend, mesmerizes him and Reinier is infatuated with him. Yosvani is handsome and has a rich girlfriend who supports him. The boys fall in love and have to fight to maintain their love. It is hard for both of them-one has to work dunning people who owe money and the other sells his body on the streets. partida2
The film looks at the intersection of love, money and sex. Ranier does what he does as strictly business and as a way to support his love and child. However, his gambling gets him trouble with a bill collector who just happens to be Yosvani. With Ranier, sex with men is strictly business and Yosvani tries very hard to convince him to run away with him.
The Spanish title, "La Partida" has many translations with one them being "The Last Match" and it is used for the title of the film to the English-speaking world. Some of the other meanings are profane and one is an anti-gay term.
Ranier has dreams that do not include prostitution. He dreams of becoming a great soccer player and rise from the poverty of the Cuban slums to become a rich and popular person. He is a good ballplayer and he desires fame and fortune that he thinks will come when he is recognized. But in the meantime...
Yosvani is getting ready to marry his girlfriend but he does ot feel worthy of her affection. However, nothing else is happening for him and this marriage may be the best thing he can do. The two men come together when Yosvani is attacked by a group of thugs who want his sneakers. Ranier comes to his aid and scares the thieves off. Little by little the two boys become close and they share a kiss during a frenzy caused by Ecstacy but that stolen kiss becomes something more and the two find time for intimacy. Ranier hides from his wife and Yosvani hides from his girlfriend as they experience the throes of love. However, Rainier's ambition at work gets the best of him but money is scarce. He cannot repay a debt to Yosvani's boss. When Yosvani refuses to enforce punishment on Ranier, the two are cast out and alone in the world. Ranier tries very hard to get a place on Cuba's winning soccer team and Yosvani begins to sell his body and steals from his former boss in order to gain Ranier's affection.
Antonio Hens directed this film which highlight the Cuban hustler trade and the subversive gay community which exists in a ghetto where it can protect itself from persecution. Hustlers keep the tourists busy and coming back which aids the ailing Cuban economy.