Reverse the Curse, 2023.
Written and Directed by David Duchovny.
Starring David Duchovny, Logan Marshall-Green, Stephanie Beatriz, Ralph Rodriguez, Jason Beghe, Evan Handler, Pamela Adlon, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Liam Garten, Santo Fazio, and Kathiamarice Lopez.
SYNOPSIS:
Follows Ted who moves in with his father Marty when he develops a fatal illness. To keep him happy and alive, Ted enlists Marty’s grief counselor Mariana and friends to fake a Red Sox winning streak.
In David Duchovny’s passion project Reverse the Curse (translating the adaptation of his novel to the screen), there is a piece of narration declaring baseball as the greatest sport since it’s never over and you never really “die” until you make the third out in the bottom of the ninth inning. Until then, there is always enough time to correct any wrongs and mistakes made somewhere on the field and emerge on top. This is a story that understands the appeal of baseball, even if, in execution, it’s not necessarily about the sport.
It’s also apparent that the so-called “curse” isn’t just the infamous Boston Red Sox World Series championship dry spell upon getting rid of future Hall of Famer Babe Ruth for shortsighted reasons (this lasted for 86 years) but also something related to family and regrets. More specifically, Boston Red Sox-obsessed, unsuccessful writer and equally failed former husband and father Marty (David Duchovny) has been cursed with lung cancer (not to take away from the consequences of his actions in habitually smoking, but any terminal almost feels like such), something that eventually reunites him with his estranged pothead aspiring writer son Teddy (Logan Marshall-Green) who currently works at Yankee Stadium slinging peanuts, choosing to move back to New Jersey and care for his father alongside death counselor Mariana (Stephanie Beatriz.)
There is also the understanding that our spirited energy is, even in illness, directly tied to the performance of our chosen team fandoms. So when a pretty dominant 1978 Boston Red Sox season run becomes shaky and uncertain with the New York Yankees quickly gaining ground, Teddy coordinates a rather unconvincing ruse to keep his father away from the TV and radio, replacing newspaper clippings with headlines indicating victory (why Marty doesn’t read any of the full articles is one of many required suspensions of disbelief), and works with some locals (including a foul-mouthed child New York Yankees fan) to play along for the dying man’s happiness. Faking rainouts using DIY weather machines also gives Teddy time to venture out and pursue his romantic interest in the emotionally closed-off Mariana.
The premise here has all the makings of an entertaining farce, yet David Duchovny is more interested in the fraught father-son relationship dynamic than baseball or humor (unless it’s bizarre scenes expressing that sometimes it’s okay for white people to use racial slurs to their friends, something that is awkwardly played for laughs through Teddy being uncomfortable.)
It all begins to feel like a heavy-handed metaphor, especially since the storytelling can’t help but charge down every melodramatic path. There are revelations about Marty’s former life and first romantic spark, diving into how and why he eventually stopped giving his wife and son the love they deserved. Additional reunions come into play in contrived manners that don’t come with any payoff. Also, nearly every character here has a traumatic backstory they have bottled up inside.
Naturally, this is frustrating since sincere gestures and dialogue between father and son carry some emotional weight (David Duchovny and Logan Marshall-Green have the kind of authentic strained chemistry that almost salvages the story like a floundering team rising from the ashes), even if they’re occasionally overplayed and surrounded by excess characters and plot points.
Obviously, there is a small budget for this production, limiting the period recreation, but one wishes the central focus was on the baggage between father and son, equipped with more emphasis on actively engaging with baseball. Aside from a few crowd shots of Teddy handing over peanuts at Yankee Stadium and snippets of a key Boston Red Sox game that the two try to attend but get lost on the road trip, suggesting that, really, the filmmakers didn’t even bother trying to bring it to life, the baseball is an afterthought. That would also be fine if the rest of the story weren’t clunky.
The major narrative beats still feel rewarding, though, since it does come through that Marty is attempting to reverse more than a curse as he and his son finally start to open up to one another and heal lingering emotional wounds. However, one of those revelations feels exaggerated and sprung onto the viewer without much foreshadowing. While watching Reverse the Curse, it’s also unquestionably obvious what beautifully relatable coda should be here, and thankfully, David Duchovny also realizes that. Perhaps if there were a co-writer or a more accomplished director managing these proceedings, the several shortcomings of this film would be reversed into something tighter, more believable, more tonally consistent, and more powerful. An affecting story here is hampered by too many errors made along the way.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★
Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Critics Choice Association. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check here for new reviews, follow my Twitter or Letterboxd, or email me at MetalGearSolid719@gmail.com
