R | 1h 48m | Drama, Comedy, Sports | 2024
Once a rarity, actors taking on the job of directing is now commonplace. Not quite as frequent are these same people pulling double duty as a performer, triple duty as a producer, or wearing four hats as a writer. To my knowledge, Warren Beatty, Charlie Chaplin, and Orson Welles are the only people to achieve this feat.
Not to be outdone, David Duchovny bests Mr. Beatty, Chaplin, and Welles by doing all of the above while adapting his own novel (the title of which cannot be printed here). It’s mostly a book about baseball; specifically the “Curse of the Bambino” and its effect on lifelong Red Sox fan Marty (Mr. Duchovny).
This superstition is rooted in the Boston Red Sox “sale” of Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees in 1920. Prior to that, the Red Sox had won five of the first 15 World Series contests. After the sale the Red Sox wouldn’t win another World Series title for 86 years.
Books and Peanuts
A 12-time failed novelist, Ted (barely) makes ends meet by hawking peanuts at Yankee games. He’s not a big Yankee fan and is neutral regarding the Red Sox. This facet of the story feels a bit force-fit by Mr. Duchovny in order to stir up some unneeded rivalry and extra faux-dramatic friction. The men already have what could best be described as a strained relationship. Ted overlooks this in the hopes of mending fences and making Marty’s final days less stressful.As the 1978 season progresses, Ted notices that whenever the Red Sox win, Marty’s disposition improves. The opposite is true when they lose. Ted comes up with a plan that would never work in the Internet age, but does so like a charm at a time when newspapers were the primary source of information.
In tandem with a quartet of Marty’s buddies that hang out at the local barbershop, Ted doctors the daily papers to make it look like the Red Sox were winning more than they actually were. It is impossible to keep up this ruse for the entire season, but Ted correctly surmises that the happier Marty is, the longer he’ll remain above ground.
Archie Bunker
The role of Marty is as far removed as it can get from the work Mr. Duchovny turned in on the TV shows “The Red Shoe Diaries,” “The X-Files,” and “Californication.” He’s frail, unkempt, irascible, and easily prone to emotional outbursts, but remains lovable in an “Archie Bunker” sort of way.A full-time stoner, Ted makes up for his professional shortcomings and dated appearance (ungainly hippie hair and mutton-chops sideburns) by willing himself to see one thing in his life through to completion and to do so with heart, soul, and grace.
For her part as the health-care professional, Ms. Beatriz walks a careful tightrope. She befriends Ted after a long stretch, making him earn it every step of the way. There’s something troubling in her back-story that Mr. Duchovny hints at yet never fully fleshes out.
After watching “Reverse the Curse” twice, I couldn’t help thinking Mr. Duchovny bit off more than he could chew. While it is light years better than his directorial debut (“House of D” from 2004), it still exhibits freshman screenwriter jitters.
Fresh Eyes
Mr. Duchovny would have served himself better by distancing himself from his own source material and brought in a more seasoned screenwriter to adapt his novel: that whole “fresh eyes on the page” thing.The movie indirectly references “Good Will Hunting,” “Fever Pitch,” “Field of Dreams,” and at least six other features that, in one way or another, tell the history of the Red Sox.
The movie isn’t great, but it is certainly a good enough watch for Red Sox fans and baseball movie completists. You could do better, but could easily do a lot worse.
