Arka Mukhopadhyay
We can all agree that long-distance relationships suck, but do you think there is a “league” as such? The second installment of a franchise in the making, bittersweet coming-of-age romance drama ‘Still Out of My League’ (‘Ancora più bello’) seems to suggest the contrary. Helmed by Claudio Norza, the gender-bender movie chronicles the lives of childhood friends Marta, Jacopo, and Federica, as they experience the butterflies and pangs of romance at the crossroads of adulthood.
The story picks up from the first movie as Marta breaks up with Arturo and hits it off with Gabriele. She steals all the limelight — her ailment notwithstanding — and Ludovica Francesconi shines in character. However, after the lies, betrayal, and misunderstandings, do Marta and Gabriele end up together? Let us revisit the heart-shattering ending. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Still Out of My League Plot Synopsis
Stubborn and dreamer orphan Marta lives in a Turin apartment with childhood friends Jacopo and Federica. She ails from a condition called mucoviscidosis, but an ailment can’t stop Marta’s undying spirit. Jacopo and Federica are her guardian angels, but after the breakup with Arturo, she is still looking for perfect love. She embarks upon a liaison with tall and handsome Gabriele. Gabriele is 27 years old who has graduated in painting and scenography from the Albertina Academy of Fine Arts.
Federica runs a poker game at her place, where she meets Mauro. Mauro offers her an ethical hacker position for his company, which calls for a party. At the party, Marta and Gabriele hug, kiss, and dance, while the crowd around them seemingly disappears. On the other hand, Jacopo spends all night texting people on the dating app Drool. After pouring a few glasses of Mojito, social media celebrity Rebecca and nerd Giacomo end up sleeping together, and shortly after, Giacomo arrives at Rebecca’s doorstep with a bouquet of roses. With three clauses, they begin the affair.
When Drool disappoints, the man of Jacopo’s dreams arrives at his doorstep with soup, and later, pizza. Gabriele gets a job in Paris. Although he initially turns down the offer due to a contract, Marta encourages him to take the job. Their long-distance relationship starts glitching until there is a full-blown rift. Meanwhile, Marta’s upcoming lung transplant gives us hope, but can Gabriele meet her before the operation?
Still Out of My League Ending: What Happens to Tommaso? Is He Gay?
When Federica comes back from the miserable first day at the job, Marta and Federica realize that they have not seen Jacopo for quite long. In the meantime, he has spent 16 hours a day on the app, possibly for fear of missing out. Marta advises him to start meeting people in real life, but Jacopo has had quite a few stints. As Jacopo tells stories of his dating misadventures, the doorbell rings. The food from So Soup Me has arrived, and so has the man of Jacopo’s dreams.
By ordering time and again from the same joint, Jacopo gets pertinent information about the delivery boy. His name is Tommy (short for Tommaso), he works three days a week, and he has recently moved to Turin. While it rains outside, Marta orders pizza for a virtual date with Gabriele. The delivery person is Tommaso, who has taken shifts for the pizza place. Marta cordially gives him one of Gabriele’s shirts, and despite Marta’s precaution, Gabriele sees Tommaso changing the shirt while on the video call. Jacopo has a massive crush on Tommaso, but they do not know if Tommaso is gay.
So, when Tommaso asks Marta for a date, she brings along Gabriele and Jacopo for double trouble. Although hesitant, Tommaso reveals his angelic tenor on a karaoke of “Nessun Dorma,” a popular opera number from Giacomo Puccini’s ‘Turandot.’ When Gabriele gets insecure, Marta reveals her social media password to be “GabriMarta2021.”
Hacking into her privacy, Gabriele comes to know of Marta’s imminent date with Tommaso. Marta thinks that her good deeds are for Jacopo, but when Gabriele calls her in the middle of the date, she cannot help but lie. Although Marta blurts out the truth upon insistence, Gabriele’s snooping upsets her. Seeing skeletons, she breaks up with him then and there. Later, Tomasso meets Jacopo for a final goodbye. It turns out that he is leaving Turin for his hometown, but Jacopo has to know whether he is gay.
Jacopo kisses him, and although Tommaso does not fight him, he is not quite passionate about the kiss either. We have seen him interested in Marta, maybe because Marta gave him attention. However, they only get as far as holding hands. So, do we know Tommaso’s sexual orientation in the end? In the end, he comes off as a grey-sexual character, with maybe a tad bit bisexuality and even metrosexuality in him. Possibly, he does not belong to either end of the spectrum and keeps oscillating in the middle.
Do Gabriele and Marta Get Back Together?
The misunderstandings surrounding Tommaso strain Gabriele and Marta’s long-distance relationship. On the other hand, Rebecca, the social media icon, ends up sleeping with Giacomo at Federica’s party after binging on a few glasses of Mojito. Giacomo goes to visit Rebeca later with a bouquet of roses, geeky but effortlessly confident. Rebecca initially rejects him but agrees to start dating him on three clauses. While the graph of their romance keeps rising, Gabriele and Marta’s love hits rock bottom.
After the date night with Tommaso, Marta does not receive or return Gabriele’s calls and blocks him everywhere. But before Marta’s awaited experiment, Jacopo and Federica call up Gabriele. Jacopo books him a ticket, but an air traffic strike in Paris throws a bucket full of water on their venture. Not disheartened, Gabriele rents a car. Although no car is available, he gets lucky. The night before the operation, Marta finally decides to unblock and call Gabriele. But his phone runs out of battery on transit.
The following morning, Jacopo and Federica root for Gabriele to arrive on time, and smart cuts show Gabriele parking his car near a hospital. Just about then, Jacopo realizes that he gave Gabriele the wrong address, and Gabriel reaches the wrong hospital. Meanwhile, the patient, Marta, has been moved, and her surgery is underway. The criminal cliffhanger and a consoling “to be continued” keep the audience content. Even if Gabriele and Marta get back together, later on, the ending of this movie does not resolve things.
Can Federica Catch Mauro?
Federica’s professional life creates a story arc in the movie. She joins as an ethical hacker intern at the office of Delfina. Her two co-workers, Christina and Silvia, become her natural adversary from the first day. When they bully Federica, she takes the matter to her boss, Mauro. Mauro tells her that three previous apprentices — Irene, Michela, and Marinella — have left the job thanks to the bullying of Silvia and Christina. He also hints to promote Federica and sack the two later on. But Federica gets to know the whole story after confronting her co-workers. Irena’s voice note to Silvia confirms that Mauro is a predator who tried to harass and prey on those previous employees.
Federica enters Mauro’s room with a plan, and he gives her an invite to the cybersecurity summit. He gets way too close, but thankfully, the co-workers have given Federica a heads up. She remembers to keep the door open and hack into Mauro’s phone for sensitive information. On the eve of the summit, Mauro texts her asking to meet near the lift. He apparently wants to surprise her, and at the risk of losing her job, Federica toils to expose Mauro. As Mauro systematically asks for a kiss on the rooftop, Federica divulges that she has hacked into his phone.
But sniffing that Federica might take the step, Mauro has already hacked Federica’s phone and deleted all the pertinent data. He spills that he has also disabled cameras at his office to avoid scandals. But as they come down, Mauro’s boss tells him to hand over the resignation letter. As it turns out, Federica and the team have one-upped Mauro. Mauro deactivated Federica’s phone, but Christina installed an app on Mauro’s phone that turned it into a microphone. And the cameras did the rest of the job. After the expose, Delfina, the company owner, personally terminates Mauro in the summit, while Silvia gets Mauro’s job.
Read More: Where Was Still Out of My League Filmed?
