Pastime
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Movie Reviews of Pastime
Movie Review: A real "under the radar" sleeper for baseball fans!
Summary: 5 Stars
This low budget film rates as one of my all-time favorites about baseball and life. Set in what I perceive to be the 1950's, it centers around the relationship between a "grizzled" veteran minor leaguer who's had a cup of coffee in the bigs, and a young black pitcher on his way up, but having to deal with the rampant discrimination and racism of the times. If this one doesn't touch your heart, then you haven't got one....Movie Review: Forgettable look at minor leagues in the 50's
Summary: 3 Stars
As a baseball fan, I really looked forward to seeing this movie. I've followed minor league baseball teams since the 60's. Modesto California Reds, Kenosha Wisconsin Twins, Salt Lake City Utah Trappers, Gulls, Buzz and whatever they are called this year, Ogden Raptors, and dozens of others around the country. This movie advertises cameos from baseball greats like Killebrew and Feller. Unfortunately the cameos are meaningless.
But the plot of the movie is full of potential. An ageing pitcher, played well by William Russ, struggles to hang on to the great love of his life, baseball, for just a little longer. He even is trying to set the record for longest career, shades of Kevin Costner in Bull Durham trying to set the minor league home-run record. He pitched once in the major leagues to Stan Musial who hit a grand slam off of him. And that's the high point of the film. The rest is even more of a downer than that.
****Spoiler Alert***** He fails at the record, staying in baseball, and life in general. But that isn't the point of this movie. Indeed, the movie has no point. Just when you think it will say something about ageing gracefully, it switches to another plot. Then you think it will say something about racism as the major character makes friends with a new black pitcher shunned by the others. But this relationship doesn't really develop either. They hang out together a little bit, but that's about it. Then you think maybe the movie is really about how the new player is helped out and guided by the veteran, but other than a few inanities like "look people in the eyes when you talk to them", this plot line also fizzles.
William Russ carries this film to its uncertain end. He is superb in this role. But the script is so weak that there isn't much that can be done. There are so many directions this film could have gone, but it ended up being a pastiche of unfulfilled sub-plots.
The veteran pitcher is cut from the team eventually at a team party, goes back to the ball park, and dies on the mound from pitching too hard. Yea, I know, doesn't make sense to me either although apparently the veteran takes blood pressure pills.
Anyway, this film is very disappointing and seems incomplete. You may find William Russ's acting as the veteran is the only noteworthy part of this film. I'd say this movie strikes out after watching a few curve balls go by. I'm not sure what the other reviewers saw in this movie, but I sure won't watch it twice.
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