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Movie Review: “The Phenom” Reaches The Base But Plays It Safe

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A Major League rookie pitcher loses control over his pitching and is sent down to the minor leagues, where he begins sessions with an unorthodox sports psychologist. In the process, hidden conflicts with his overbearing father are brought to light.

Writer/director Noah Buschel has had an interesting career trajectory. He’s worked multiple times with Academy Award-Nominee Amy Ryan, as well as notable, top-notch actors such as Michael Shannon, Billy Crudup, Corey Stoll, Paul Sparks and Tate Donovan. He’s dealt with serious, commendable subjects such as agoraphobia (“Sparrows Dance”), the repercussions of 9/11 (“The Missing Person”) and the psychological effects of Kerouac’s “On the Road” on its main inspiration (“Neal Cassady”). Yet none of his ambitious-but-flawed films seemed to have had much success when it comes to revenues – or made much of a cultural dent.

“The Phenom” continues that unfortunate trend, his second consecutive sport-centric flick in a row after the boxing drama “Glass Chin.” This time the subject is baseball, the stars are multiple Academy Award-Nominees Ethan Hawke and Paul Giamatti… and the box-office results are as low as ever. Whether the fault lies in the over-saturation of blockbusters, bad marketing, audiences’ disinterest in the aforementioned topics, or Buschel’s own lack of a directorial trademark and diluted visual approach, is difficult to determine. “The Phenom,” as laudable as it is for being not so much about the game itself as it is about the implications behind it (kind of “Moneyball”-style, with Buschel’s grounded dialogue instead of Aaron Sorkin’s linguistic orgy), hints that the answer may be “all of the above.” Buschel’s film has its share of standout moments and a genuinely interesting approach to the subject, but lacks directorial charisma to truly stand out in the field.

Hopper Gibson (Johnny Simmons) is a highly promising baseball player, who one day has a meltdown on the mound after some guy shouts out the word “coke” in the crowd. Hopper reveals that his memory is somewhat foggy to his psychologist, Dr. Mobley (Paul Giamatti), who comments, “Memory is a funny business. And sometimes we fog over the past, because of damage. Like in the old movies, when they put Vaseline on the camera lens to make faces prettier and softer.” Savvy moviegoers will note that this pre-credit line spells out the film’s main theme, as well as it’s plot, and will certainly know the answers to the following questions: Could Hopper have a traumatic past that surfaced and is now affecting his game? Is Dr. Mobley his conduit to salvation? Will the film continue to mix the poetic with the mundane?

As the therapy sessions go on, we flash back to scenes of Hopper going through his self-discovery journey. He confronts his coach Eddie (Yul Vazquez), girlfriend Dorothy (Sophie Kennedy Clark) and his abusive, recently-imprisoned father, Hopper Sr. (Ethan Hawke), who puts him through the grinder, expecting greatness from his son that he himself never achieved (and bringing to mind J.K. Simmons’ psychotic music instructor Fletcher from “Whiplash”). Hopper Sr. teaches his son to “always be on the mound,” and view everyone in life as an opponent, which, as Dr. Mobley acutely notes, must make it pretty difficult for Hopper to confide in him.

Phenom

All the actors shine, elevating the film a notch above your run-of-the-mill character drama. The ever-reliable Paul Giamatti is by far the highlight, turning in a relaxed, subdued performance filled with depth, remorse and empathy. Johnny Simmons in the lead manages to keep up with the stalwart in their intimate scenes together; the exchanges between Hopper and Dr. Mobley are the most memorable, two actors at the top of their game, managing to transcend the cliched “at the psychiatrist” scene. The highlight comes during their final confrontation, the camera staying focused on their faces as they call each other out. Ethan Hawke is all smarmy aggression bordering on violence, filled with seething bitterness and resentment, disappearing behind his crew cut and tattoos. (“You must think you’re pretty astonishing,” he tells his son, shirt unbuttoned, beer in hand. “Everything that you accomplished, you owe to me.”) When he asks Hopper to “check out steroids,” you can’t tell if he’s kidding or not, just as when he states, “all drugs should be legal.” It’s a hammy but effective turn from the versatile actor.

I like that the film deals with the implications behind the making of a U.S. athlete star, and how institutions turn their backs on grades, as long as their star player “keeps pitchin’.” “You have to work,” Hopper’s teacher June (the underused Elizabeth Marvel) says. “If you only do what comes easy to you, what you are good at, you are just an untrained thoroughbred, which isn’t a race horse, at all.” A similar indictment of the sports industry and its “false idols” comes from Dorothy in the beginning of the film. It’s refreshing to see a sports drama examine the rudimentary nature and effect on society of the sport its depicting. The dialogue, several needless flourishes aside, is incisive and biting.

Tonally, the film seems a bit lost. A siren-blaring, crimson-red sequence of Hopper freaking out on the field as he watches his father getting arrested feels jarring and out of place in an otherwise subdued film, with grey tones and no sudden swerves into pretentiousness. Another scene involving Hopper talking to reporters in a locker room is laughably bad – obvious and unnecessary. It also goes from talky psychological drama to allegorical sports tale to underdog story to, yes, even a thriller at one point – all in odd little waves. The budget limitations become apparent when it comes to the surprisingly empty baseball fields. There are also dull stretches in an already-short film (just over 80 minutes) and, despite the convincing acting, a strange vacuousness when it comes to their backgrounds, goals and everyday lives.

I’m all about indie, artful films having exposure and firmly believe audiences crave more intellectually stimulating films that take a new look at well-worn subjects. However, in a world filled with baseball dramas (“Bill Durham,” “Rookie of the Year,” “A League of Their Own,” “42,” “Trouble with the Curve,” the aforementioned “Moneyball,” to name a few) “The Phenom” gets lost. If it attempts to use baseball as a backdrop and/or metaphor for the drama unfolding on screen, it doesn’t entirely succeed due to lack of truly existential/philosophical insight. On the other hand, its misleading poster and synopsis makes one assume there’s actual baseball in the film, of which there’s next-to-none. Perhaps next time, in order to make his name, Buschel needs to focus more on his target audience, and the message he’s trying to relay. If he wants to stand out from the rest, ambition is not enough – Buschel’s gotta hit it out of the ballpark.

Available on Blu-ray & DVD August 30th

 
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Alex Saveliev

Alex graduated from Emerson College in Boston with a BA in Film & Media Arts and studied journalism at the Northwestern University in Chicago. While there, he got acquainted with the late Roger Ebert, who supported and inspired Alex in his career as a screenwriter and film critic. Alex has produced, written and directed a short zombie film, “Parched,” which is being distributed internationally and he is developing a series for a TV network, and is in pre-production on a major motion picture.