Eephus

With a hang-out movie ease and naturalistic characters and dialogue, co-writer and director Carson Lund in his debut feature has crafted an amusing, elegiac, and highly authentic sports comedy that is deconstructionist as well. Albeit it’s one that showcases the sad reality of aging as well. The middle-aged characters are way past their prime as they play in an amateur baseball league that has no fanbase, and they are determined to finish their last game of the season before the baseball field is set to be demolished to make room for a brand-new school. The film is very much in the vein of Richard Linklater’s Everybody Wants Some and the 2020 DIY indie Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets, which also takes place in the course of a day and it’s the ultimate hangout movie. In addition to the realism and deadpan hilarity, there is a sadness that lies in seeing these middle-aged, broken-down men run bases, swing bats, and pour great passion into the game as their bodies are decaying in the ongoing passage of time.

The film takes place in a small Massachusetts town in the 1990s (I think). We are introduced to the Adler’s Paint baseball team, led by Ed Montaignian (Keith William Richards from Uncut Gems), facing the RiverDogs, led by Graham Morris (Stephen Radocha), in one last game before their baseball field is demolished. We are also introduced to other players throughout the story. We see the game start off in daylight; the pitches are slow sinkers known as Eephus, the score is low, and there are many walks. The players also debate; they run out of money to pay for the umpire once it goes after hours; there is a scorekeeper who pays attention to every play, every inning, and every moment.

Courtesy Music Box Films

A pizza truck comes in and sells hot pizza slices, where one of the elderly fans states baseball games should have hot dogs instead of pizza. A few family members and girlfriends’ phase in and out, and eventually the film begins to feel draining and lethargic, but by design. The game is exhausting, as are the players; the game begins to feel endless once it goes into nighttime way after they lose sunlight. A normal 3-hour game eventually becomes an all-day game, and the players are determined to play one last time. The film feels like a eulogy, and it examines how public places phase out before shopping centers and malls. There are many touches throughout the film, including Frederick Wiseman who narrates some of the film through a radio.

The film also had a Robert Altman spirit; it’s ultimately plotless, with the possible exception that we start off laughing at these characters only to feel some empathy for them as their hobby is coming to a crash course. The film reveals a certain time and place, and there are many nuances with each character. What could have come off as condescending or mean-spirited, and while the film enjoys itself, the film holds a fondness for its characters as well. Aesthetically, the film has the tone and texture of an 80s comedy like Meatballs or Caddyshack with the dizzying energy of a Robert Altman or Richard Linklater film. There is no question that Carson Lund has a nostalgic eye, but he doesn’t get lost in it, and the film ends up becoming a bittersweet sports drama about aging and the passage of time. The players and their teammates even refute each other on plays and strategies, but they all bond on honest levels. Let’s hope Eephus finds an audience and that it pays off for Carson so he can continue to make more idiosyncratic films like this because he is an exciting and fresh voice that holds much potential.

Eephus is now playing in limited theaters