Reverse the Curse was a film I desperately wanted to love. I'm a huge fan of David Duchovny's acting, writing, & directing, and have read the source material (his own "Bucky F*ing Dent" novel) from which this is based. Sadly, Reverse the Curse didn't emotionally connect with me in the same way the book did.

For a very basic overview, this movie tells the story of Ted Fullilove (Logan Marshall-Green)--a 1970s Yankee Stadium peanut-vendor who gets the dreaded call that his quasi-estranged, Red Sox-rooting father Marty (Duchovny) is dying. As the two awkwardly reconnect, they discover that a shared interest in baseball may help the relationship flourish in its final weeks.

In a sense, Reverse the Curse is a relatively straightforward "strained father/son relationship" flick. As writer, director, & producer, Duchovny definitely puts his unique comedic/philosophical touches on the material and one can tell he is genuinely trying to create real emotion (even often through the lens of Californication-like comedy).

But overall, the experience largely comes up short in two distinct categories:

First, this is a period piece (1970s) that doesn't seem like it whatsoever. Perhaps budgetary restrictions are the main culprit, but I never felt absorbed into 70s culture like I should have been.

Also--and most egregious--is the puzzling lack of baseball content in the film. While by no means a "baseball movie" at heart, Reverse the Curse puts forth surprisingly little mention of baseball whatsoever until the final act. In the novel, I remember the Marty/Ted relationship being defined by baseball and more material of Teddy at Yankee Stadium. That isn't the case in the cinematic version--and I think it is sorely missed.

As such, I have to cap my ranking of Reverse the Curse at 6/10 stars. Though featuring a strong setup and genuine heart behind the entire project, it seems a bit too much was "lost in translation" in the book-to-screen adaptation process.

I'm trying to think of some lame baseball reference to sum up this movie. Passed Ball, maybe. Balk. Foul out. Hit by pitch. These choices don't really get there.

Neither did the movie.

I was rooting for it. I really was.

The baseball part of it was barely part of the plot. And there were so many holes in the idea (no spoilers) they became hard to ignore. It's a comedy. There is some length here. Some times it was really strained.

And lots of scenes that didn't reveal anything, didn't raise the stakes, didn't move the plot. There was never much tension about what might happen. The scene in the trailer with the two leads standing naked together -- what was that for? You could go out to for more popcorn and you wouldn't have missed much except for a vague dick joke.

So many pitches fouled off.

It felt like there were a lot of choices made just to keep the budget low. Best example was the finale. Meh. Also hard to believe. There are no Red Sox fans in New Jersey. :-)

Great acting. Production values fine. I loved the Yankees fan kid.

Hard to get behind this team.

I was lucky enough to catch this movie at the Glasgow film festival. The basic story is an estranged son comes back into his fathers life after a cancer diagnosis. It sounds like it could be a little depressing, quite the opposite. It has many light hearted moments,and some down right hilarious ones. The theatre was laughing practically throughout the entire movie. David & Logan have great chemistry and work well as the father son duo with a matching sarcastic humour. The more dramatic scenes are brilliant too, they appear more toward the end. The movie has a lot to offer, I laughed, I cried, I left the cinema completely satisfied. A Beautifully charming heart warming little movie. Well done to David for the great writing, and Logan Marshall-Green for always delivering a steller performance .