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Audience Member Wonderfully acted, brilliantly set film about the sunset of one career and the dawn of another. William Russ who went on to play the father in 'Boy Meets World' plays Roy Dean Bream, the aging player trying to hang on a bit longer while Glenn Plummer plays the up and coming prospect. Filmed on location in Central California, the film captures the area as if it was filmed during that time instead of 33 years later. Add in first rate performances by Noble Willingham and Jeffrey Tambor and this indeed is an overlooked classic. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/02/23 Full Review Audience Member There have been a number of baseball films over the years delving into subjects such as ageism, racism, camaraderie between players, older managers who don't seem like they care, a curmudgeonly owner, etc. Pastime delves into each of these. The problem is, it doesn't delve into the problem nearly as well as many other baseball films. I've never heard of this movie before I watched it, and that's probably the reason. It doesn't do anything unique to attempt to differentiate itself form other movies. It's just a light version of many other baseball films, and with less star power. Rated 2.5/5 Stars •  Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/09/23 Full Review Audience Member An aging pitcher takes a promising African-American hurler under his wing in the minor leagues. The title of this film is a pun: baseball is America's pastime and the main character is past his time. I'm not saying the pun is clever or that I like it; I'm just saying I notice it. The film is compelling because William Russ gives a good performance in the leading role, but that's about all I can say for it. Set in the fifties, the film ignores or glosses over the racial realities of baseball at the time. Yes, Tyrone is persona non grata in the clubhouse, but that's the extent of the racial tension he has to face though Jackie Robinson's reality showed a treatment quite different than what Tyrone deals with. Also, the baseball action is as realistic as baseball action is in most films, excepting <i>61*</i> and <i>Sugar</i>. The pitchers don't warm up, the hitters don't work counts, and players mostly either strike out or hit home runs. The characters are bluntly drawn, especially Inez who has no inner life of her own and serves the plot only as a mild romantic interest. Tyrone is meek, but we don't where he comes from or why he is driven to succeed in the game. The exposition revealing the owner's backstory is from the "How to Not Do Exposition" manual. Overall, even for baseball fans <i>Pastime</i> is a poor effort. Rated 1.5/5 Stars •  Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 02/26/23 Full Review Audience Member A great look at baseball back in the late 50s. Insight to what a young black player had to face and what a veteran goes through when he knows nothing else but the sport he loves. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/26/23 Full Review Audience Member Now a lot of you movie fans will read this synopsis and immediately draw several allusions to the 1988 Baseball classic Bull Durham with Kevin Costner and Tim Robbins. It should be noted that Pastime did indeed come out a few years after Durham but the story Pastime is adopted from was written long before Durham was made. That being said I think I like Bull Durham better even though I like this film taking place in the tail end of the 50â²s and have the relationship take place with and older white guy and a young African American kid just starting out at a time when Baseball was still getting through its bigoted phase. The movie has a very âindyâ? feel to it while also doing enough work to make it feel like the the 50â²s. And telling a minor league ball story from this era is a cool hook (one that got me watching in the first place). The performances are pretty good as well. The cast is mostly made up of character actors and are somewhat familiar but no big names unless you count Jeffery Tambor (Arrested Development). The movie also plays with traditional movie tropes that you are use to seeing in sports films like this. I wonâ(TM)t go into spoiler territory but for example Roy-Dean made it to the majors but he was never a great player that just got hurt or too old like in so many others. He was up for one game and gave up a grand slam and never saw the prime time again. He wasnâ(TM)t MLB material and he just sat around in the minors until he couldnâ(TM)t hack it there either, but even though he didnâ(TM)t have the tools he had the knowledge and tried to pass it on even though he was the proverbial punching bag on his team. For its good it also had moments where the movie just didnâ(TM)t feel complete to me, like it was missing something, maybe more character development or back story would have really sucked me in more. It is a good movie that deserves a look especially if you enjoy Baseball! Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/04/23 Full Review Audience Member Well, a bunch of Hall of Fame players make cameos in this, but holy cow was this hard to make it all the way through! It sure looks pretty, and is filmed pretty too! But the dialogue and acting are hard to stomach. And the end? Well, they brought the high, hard cheese for sure! Just watch Bull Duram again. Rated 2/5 Stars •  Rated 2 out of 5 stars 02/04/23 Full Review Read all reviews

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