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With: Keith William Richards, Frederick Wiseman, Cliff Blake, Ray Hryb, Bill "Spaceman" Lee, Stephen Radochia, David Pridemore, Keith Poulson, John R Smith Jnr., Pete Minkarah, Wayne Diamond, Theodore Bouloukos, Joe Castiglione, Russell J. Gannon, David Torres Jr., Nate Fisher, Chris Goodwin, Conner Marx, Brendan "Crash" Burt, Tim Taylor, Ethan Ward, Jeff Saint Dic, Patrick Garrigan, Ari Brisbon, Johnny Tirado, Joe Penczak, Paul Kandarian, Isabelle Charlot, Lou Basta, Timber Holmes, Annie Tisdale
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Written by: Michael Basta, Nate Fisher, Carson Lund
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Directed by: Carson Lund
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MPAA Rating: NR
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Running Time: 98
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Date: 03/07/2025
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Perfect Pitch
By Jeffrey M. Anderson
Produced by Tyler Taormina, Eephus has the same vibe as his excellent directorial effort Christmas Eve in Miller's Point. Both films are nearly plotless, and yet as we eavesdrop on the characters and their petty squabbles, and their greater fears and concerns, we get to know them in ways that a plot could never provide. Eephus is named after a particular baseball pitch that arcs high in the air, appears to hover for a moment, and confuses the batter as to when it's actually going to arrive, causing them to swing too early or too late. That pitch has little or nothing to do with the movie, though, which is almost certainly one of the greatest baseball movies of all time. It tells the story of the final game of the season, a face-off between a pair of non-pro New England teams consisting mostly of middle-aged guys. There's a nip in the air and there are ads for Halloween on the radio. We learn that this will also be the last game played on this field (the next closest field is several towns over), as it will be torn up to build a school. One player is late and almost causes his team to forfeit. A pitcher starts downing beers before the game, an act that apparently improves his pitching. A few straggler fans show up to watch. As the game goes on, it begins to get dark, and the players pause to improvise a solution. It's like The Bad News Bears without a story. It's a movie about a game that matters hardly at all, but in the moment, matters more than anything.
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