Fastball

Fastball right down the middle.

(2016) Sports Documentary (Gravitas Ventures) Kevin Costner (narration), Joe Morgan, Nolan Ryan, Derek Jeter, Denard Spain, Mike Schmidt, Justin Verlander, Rich Gossage, Eddie Murray, George Brett, Bryan Price, Aroldis Chapman, Bob Gibson, Hank Aaron, Ernie Banks, Steve Dalkowsky, Joe Posnansky, David Price, Craig Kimbrel, Johnny Bench. Directed by Jonathan Hock

The game of baseball speaks to the American soul in ways that football and basketball can’t. It is a means of reaching back to our past, to simpler times and embracing who we once were as a people. While some of those things are ugly – the racism and segregation of the early era, the influence of gamblers and performance enhancing drugs and the erosion of the game as football became America’s Sport – the game endures in the hearts of many Americans as the symbol of all that is good about this country.

One of the enduring arguments in baseball concerns the most common and lethal pitch – the fastball. To wit, who throws the fastest? It’s a little easier these days with modern technology to answer that question, but where does that put the iconic power pitchers of earlier days? Guys like Sandy Koufax, Walter Johnson and Bob Feller? Attempts were made to measure the latter two, most notably in Feller’s case when his fastball was measured against a motorcycle going full speed.

This documentary, made under the auspices of Major League Baseball and narrated by Costner, whose association with the sport is as close as any actor’s in history, looks at the fastball, including its impact on the sport, its place in our imagination and the cultural significance of the act of throwing one.

There is a talking head factor here, but most of them are former major leaguers, talking about the nastiest fastball they faced or about their own experiences throwing it. There are segments on Johnson, Feller and Koufax along with Nolan Ryan, Goose Gossage and Steve Dalkowsky, the minor league player whom the character “Nuke” LaLoosh from Bull Durham was based on. He had a major league fastball, but his control was terrifying. He might have made the major leagues though one season but for a heartbreaking injury.

The stories are the major thing here, and nobody is as entertaining a storyteller as a ballplayer. One of the things that gets this movie over is the combination of the technical aspect of baseball, showing how the speed of the fastball is measured (which I was surprised to discover isn’t the speed when it’s hitting the plate but about ten feet from the pitcher’s mound) as well as what appeals more to the emotional side of the sports fan as well as to the tech geek.

There is plenty of archival footage and a great sense of the mythic quality of baseball and I think that’s what mainly captivated me about the documentary. Nothing taps into the American soul better than baseball and if you are not from this country, if you’re going to understand Americans you first need to understand the game of baseball. Watching this masterpiece of Americana will almost certainly give you an insight into the American psyche, although non-fans of the game might not get some of the reference points. However, you don’t have to be a fan of the game to admire the sight of a thrown baseball exploding past a policeman going nearly 100 MPH on a motorcycle.

REASONS TO GO: Effectively combines technology and mythology. Captures the mythic quality of the game. Some very entertaining stories.
REASONS TO STAY: May not appeal to non-fans.
FAMILY VALUES: A little bit of profanity.
TRIVIAL PURSUIT: Chapman currently holds the record for the fastest pitch thrown in a Major League Baseball regular season game; 105.1 MPH on September 25, 2010 in San Diego when he was a member of the Cincinnati Reds.
BEYOND THE THEATERS: VOD, iTunes, Amazon
CRITICAL MASS: As of 4/5/16: Rotten Tomatoes: 88% positive reviews. Metacritic: 74/100.
COMPARISON SHOPPING: Knuckleball
FINAL RATING: 9/10
NEXT: Embrace of the Serpent

Pick of the Litter – March 2016

BLOCKBUSTER OF THE MONTH

Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice

(Warner Brothers) Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Jesse Eisenberg, Amy Adams. For years DC had the upper hand when it came to cinematic comic book adaptations thanks largely to the Batman franchise, but Marvel has since overtaken the venerable comic publisher for superiority at the box office. Now, DC is set to fire a salvo of their own back as they kickstart their own cinematic universe here as the two most iconic superheroes in the DC universe – and arguably in all of comic books – face off as the destruction that was rained down on Metropolis by Superman’s battle with General Zod affects the Caped Crusader in a personal way, leading to a conflict of philosophies between the two heroes, gleefully orchestrated by Lex Luthor. However, what Luthor doesn’t get is that these two titans aren’t the only superheroes in town. March 25

INDEPENDENT PICKS

Knight of Cups

(Broad Green) Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Natalie Portman, Antonio Banderas. A Hollywood screenwriter finds himself in a surreal environment that try as he might, he just can’t make any sense of. With his relationships crumbling, he sets out to find love in all the wrong places and just might – might, mind you – find redemption. I know that director Terrance Malick is an acquired taste and I’m also painfully aware that he hasn’t delivered what I’d consider an outstanding film in nearly 30 years but I hold out hope that he still has another masterpiece in him; certainly he is one of the most visual directors in the medium and his films always inspire at least some degree of thought. March 4

The Boy and the Beast

(FUNimation) Starring the voices of Eric Vale, John Swasey, Monica Rial, Chuck Huber. Not all the great anime in Japan comes from Studio Ghibli. A young street orphan is taken as an apprentice by a warrior beast who shows him a world of beasts that coexists with our own. Although their relationship is tempestuous, the two slowly begin forming a bond. That bond is threatened by a dark force that threatens both the human and beast worlds; master and apprentice must work together to defeat this evil or lose everything that matters. March 4

Cemetery of Splendor

(Strand) Jenjira Pongpas Widner, Banlop Lomnoi, Jarinpattra Rueangram, Petcharat Chaiburi. A lonesome housewife tends to soldiers with a mysterious sleeping sickness. She herself begins to have strange dreams and hallucinations, the line between reality and dreams growing ever more vague. She begins to see strange phantoms and portents…and as she does she begins to fall in love with the young soldier in her charge. This is the latest film from acclaimed Thai director Apitchatpong Weerasethakul.  March 4

Marguerite

(Cohen Media Group) Catherine Frot, André Marcon, Michel Fau, Christa Théret. In Paris of the 1920s, Marguerite Dumont is a wealthy woman, a patron of the arts and well-loved by her friends and Paris in general. She loves opera and even more, she loves to sing and often sings for her friends; the problem is that she is a terrible singer. Her husband and devoted friends have kept this simple fact from her but now she has determined that she is going to sing for an audience. March 11

The Confirmation

(Saban) Clive Owen, Jaeden Lieberher, Maria Bello, Patton Oswalt. A young boy is forced to spend the weekend with his alcoholic dad when his mom heads out to a Catholic retreat with her new husband. The boy has an uneasy relationship with his dad, and a series of events, including the breakdown of his truck, his landlord locking him out of his apartment and worst yet, his prized set of tools, which he desperately needs for an upcoming job, are stolen. He goes on a search for those tools along with his son and an assortment of oddball friends and in doing so, finds a place where he can be the father his son always wanted. March 18

Fastball

(Gravitas) Kevin Costner (narrator), Derek Jeter, Nolan Ryan, Yasiel Puig. One of the great appeals of baseball is the mano-a-mano aspect – one pitcher, armed with a ball throws at a batter, armed with a stick, and tries to throw the ball by him. It is the essence of baseball, the pitcher throwing as hard as he can and the batter trying to connect with the ball and drive it as hard as he can. This documentary, produced under the auspices of Major League Baseball, takes a look at the most popular pitch among baseball fans – the fastball, and those who threw it well. March 25