Knuckleball!
Knuckleball! | |
---|---|
Directed by | Ricki Stern Anne Sundberg |
Produced by | Dan Cogan, Christine Schomer, Ricki Stern, Annie Sundberg |
Starring | Tim Wakefield R. A. Dickey |
Music by | Paul Brill |
Distributed by | Amelia & Theo Films, FilmBuff |
Release dates |
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Running time | 93 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Knuckleball! is a 2012 documentary film that follows the 2011 seasons of Tim Wakefield and R. A. Dickey, Major League Baseball's only knuckleball pitchers that year.[1] It was released in theaters on September 20, 2012, and on DVD on April 2, 2013.[2] Wakefield won his 200th game in 2011 and Dickey won the 2012 Cy Young Award.
Background
Stern and Sundberg's previous documentary was Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work.[3] They had also previously directed the documentary The Devil Came on Horseback about the War in Darfur.[4]
Plot
The film sets up the 2011 season by showing how the knuckleball saved both pitchers from obscurity.[1] Dickey moved his family 37 times before landing with the New York Mets.[4] The film presents Wakefield's chase of his 200th win as a member of the 2011 Red Sox and Dickey's make-it-or-break-it season with the 2011 Mets.[3] It demonstrates the fraternal nature of knuckleball pitchers who trade tips of the trade via various meetings with the likes of Phil Niekro and Charlie Hough.[1][3] Dickey won the Cy Young Award in November 2012.[5][6]
Cast
Reception
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 93% of 17 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.8/10.[2] On Metacritic the film scored 73 out of 100 based on 9 reviews.[7]
Neil Genzlinger of The New York Times, noted that the film's release coincided with Dickey's Cy Young run, which made the "first-rate sports documentary" especially sweet.[1] The Boston Globe's Ty Burr said "The movie's a must for baseball fans in general and Red Sox fans in particular".[3] Even the film's harshest critics such as Time Out's David Fear says "Viewers who can’t get enough of ESPN's "30 for 30" docs will lap up this dual portrait", but continued to say that "Nonfans, however, are about to find out exactly what the phrase inside baseball means."[8]
See also
Notes
- ^ a b c d Genzlinger, Neil (September 20, 2012). "The Art of the Flutter: 'Knuckleball!' Considers the Unpredictable Pitch". The New York Times. Archived from the original on February 25, 2022. Retrieved January 2, 2022.
- ^ a b "Knuckleball! (2012)". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on February 11, 2013. Retrieved June 3, 2013.
- ^ a b c d Burr, Ty (September 17, 2012). "'Knuckleball!' documentary is pitch-perfect". The Boston Globe. Archived from the original on May 21, 2013. Retrieved June 2, 2013.
- ^ a b DeFore, John (September 18, 2012). "Knuckleball!: Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on September 24, 2012. Retrieved June 2, 2013.
- ^ Rubin, Adam (November 16, 2012). "R. A. Dickey wins NL Cy Young". ESPN. Archived from the original on November 16, 2012. Retrieved June 7, 2013.
- ^ Keh, Andrew (November 14, 2012). "Mets' Dickey Wins Cy Young Award". The New York Times. Archived from the original on April 8, 2013. Retrieved June 7, 2013.
- ^ "Knuckleball!". Metacritic. Archived from the original on November 5, 2012. Retrieved June 2, 2013.
- ^ Fear, David (September 17, 2012). "Knuckleball!: Time Out says". Time Out. Archived from the original on September 30, 2012. Retrieved June 2, 2013.
External links
- Official website (archived from original)
- Knuckleball! at IMDb