June 17, 2024
FILM: REVERSE THE CURSE
DIRECTED BY: DAVID DUCHOVNY
STARRING: DAVID DUCHOVNY, LOGAN MARSHALL-GREEN, STEPHANIE BEATRIZ
RATING: 2 ½ out of 4 stars
By Dan Pal
For those of us in Chicago it felt like the Cubs were cursed for over a hundred years. Were we that excited then when the Boston Red Sox broke their supposed curse by winning the World Series in 2004? Probably not. We really only knew what losing was all about in Chicago baseball. While the Cubs did go on to win the Series in 2016 they struggle once again. Even as I watched the new film Reverse the Curse the Cubs simultaneously had been leading Tampa Bay 2-1 and then lost in the bottom of the 9th 4-2. While not a significant loss it still panged like many Cubs’ losses do. They’re now in last place. Are losers forever losers?
Just in time for summertime baseball comes Reverse the Curse which concerns a father and son in 1978 gearing up for a possible winning season for the Red Sox. Time is not on their side though as Marty Fullilove, played by David Duchovny, is dying of heart disease and lung cancer. His son Ted, played by Logan Marshall-Green, hopes his father will finally get to see his beloved team win when before he dies. (Sports fans know the outcome of the season but I won’t spoil it here.) Ted himself might be considered a loser like the Red Sox or the Cubs. He’s a writer who earns a meager living selling peanuts at the ball park. He becomes interested in Mariana (Stephanie Beatriz) the nurse who is guiding Marty in his last months of life. She too has experienced some loss and is generally a pretty downtrodden character.
Duchovny wrote the screenplay based on his own novel. As a film, the plotting meanders a bit from hospital scenes to a somewhat cliché argumentative father/son road trip that doesn’t have enough spunk to completely work. There is a general gloom to the film that never overpowers the narrative though thanks to the sense of humor that Duchovny and Marshall-Green possess as actors. They do bare some resemblance to each other too. (The latter is often mistaken for Tom Hardy and it is not hard to imagine why.) Yet the actors are only 16 years apart and Duchovny seems a bit too young to play Marty. He is more grizzled in appearance than he used to be but some of the coughs and emotional scenes he attempts feel more forced than genuine.
As a director Duchovny also rounds out the cast with cameos from some of the actors he starred with on the TV series Californication, such as Pamela Adlon, Evan Handler, and Jason Beghe. It’s great to see them here but their talents are mostly wasted in such small roles.
Duchovny attempts to capture the look and feel of the primary era of the film, including a few scenes taking place in 1956 that feel pretty authentic with its cars and hairstyles. Marshall-Green though does wear a long “hippie” wig that feels a bit out of place for 1978. But to fully bring us into the time period, Duchovny occasionally offers stock and baseball footage that is effective and welcome to see.
The film definitely explores the concept of losing and suggests that we are often looking for a fairy tale ending that just doesn’t gel with reality. “Life belongs to the losers,” says one character. It’s an interesting perspective that Duchovny sadly leaves behind for an ending that is more upbeat than the rest of the narrative might suggest.
This isn’t a bad film it just feels a bit unfocused tonally and thematically at times. Baseball fans (particularly those in Boston) might really dig it though.
Reverse the Curse is now playing in limited theatrical release and is available to rent on Amazon Prime.
FILM: REVERSE THE CURSE
DIRECTED BY: DAVID DUCHOVNY
STARRING: DAVID DUCHOVNY, LOGAN MARSHALL-GREEN, STEPHANIE BEATRIZ
RATING: 2 ½ out of 4 stars
By Dan Pal
For those of us in Chicago it felt like the Cubs were cursed for over a hundred years. Were we that excited then when the Boston Red Sox broke their supposed curse by winning the World Series in 2004? Probably not. We really only knew what losing was all about in Chicago baseball. While the Cubs did go on to win the Series in 2016 they struggle once again. Even as I watched the new film Reverse the Curse the Cubs simultaneously had been leading Tampa Bay 2-1 and then lost in the bottom of the 9th 4-2. While not a significant loss it still panged like many Cubs’ losses do. They’re now in last place. Are losers forever losers?
Just in time for summertime baseball comes Reverse the Curse which concerns a father and son in 1978 gearing up for a possible winning season for the Red Sox. Time is not on their side though as Marty Fullilove, played by David Duchovny, is dying of heart disease and lung cancer. His son Ted, played by Logan Marshall-Green, hopes his father will finally get to see his beloved team win when before he dies. (Sports fans know the outcome of the season but I won’t spoil it here.) Ted himself might be considered a loser like the Red Sox or the Cubs. He’s a writer who earns a meager living selling peanuts at the ball park. He becomes interested in Mariana (Stephanie Beatriz) the nurse who is guiding Marty in his last months of life. She too has experienced some loss and is generally a pretty downtrodden character.
Duchovny wrote the screenplay based on his own novel. As a film, the plotting meanders a bit from hospital scenes to a somewhat cliché argumentative father/son road trip that doesn’t have enough spunk to completely work. There is a general gloom to the film that never overpowers the narrative though thanks to the sense of humor that Duchovny and Marshall-Green possess as actors. They do bare some resemblance to each other too. (The latter is often mistaken for Tom Hardy and it is not hard to imagine why.) Yet the actors are only 16 years apart and Duchovny seems a bit too young to play Marty. He is more grizzled in appearance than he used to be but some of the coughs and emotional scenes he attempts feel more forced than genuine.
As a director Duchovny also rounds out the cast with cameos from some of the actors he starred with on the TV series Californication, such as Pamela Adlon, Evan Handler, and Jason Beghe. It’s great to see them here but their talents are mostly wasted in such small roles.
Duchovny attempts to capture the look and feel of the primary era of the film, including a few scenes taking place in 1956 that feel pretty authentic with its cars and hairstyles. Marshall-Green though does wear a long “hippie” wig that feels a bit out of place for 1978. But to fully bring us into the time period, Duchovny occasionally offers stock and baseball footage that is effective and welcome to see.
The film definitely explores the concept of losing and suggests that we are often looking for a fairy tale ending that just doesn’t gel with reality. “Life belongs to the losers,” says one character. It’s an interesting perspective that Duchovny sadly leaves behind for an ending that is more upbeat than the rest of the narrative might suggest.
This isn’t a bad film it just feels a bit unfocused tonally and thematically at times. Baseball fans (particularly those in Boston) might really dig it though.
Reverse the Curse is now playing in limited theatrical release and is available to rent on Amazon Prime.