‘Eephus’ NYFF 2024 Review: Swing and a …

A couple decades ago, my friends and I played in a men’s baseball league. We had the youngest team (name: ‘The Washups’), but far from the best. Closer to the worst, actually. On summer Sundays, we’d play a doubleheader, which meant 12-18 total innings (depending on the mercy rule), sweating off a hangover whose force would render me bedridden at present day/tolerance level. Carson Lund’s “Eephus” captures the intermittent joy and stubborn melancholy of those amateur baseball days, when the ritual mattered more than the game. Although, the stakes are deceptively high, since the field in “Eephus” will soon be demolished, leaving the league without a home base. Sure, they can go to another field—but that’s thirty minutes away! The sense of mourning is both buried and just above the surface, as Lund’s grizzled, middle-aged ballplayers limp towards an end that won’t lead to a new beginning. 

A Main Slate selection at NYFF, “Eephus” has more than America’s Pastime on its mind. I’ve already compared “Anora”—another Main Slater—to the greatest baseball movie (“Bull Durham”), and the athletes in “Eephus” are catatonic compared to the verbal and physical acrobats Ani, Crash Davis and Nuke LaLoosh. And so the grouch in me wants to —will!—complain about the quality of play in “Eephus.” Even the imposing center fielder Logan Evans (Patrick Garrigan) who “plays college” short arms from the outfield. (At least his crow hop is true.) Of course, there’s no telling how porous The Washups would look on the field these days. Most likely we’d look similar, and for sure we’d sound the same: all grunts, creaky limbs and curses. Even the former stars among us would have dimmed, yielding to the inevitable physical destructor: time, which will ultimately defeat both of the “Eephus” teams.

Zoom Interviews and Different Casting Approaches

Lund’s ensemble includes a number of familiar faces from what’s-that-movie-or-show? And yet, an IMDb search reveals few credits for the lot of them, except Keith Poulson who’s in every Alex Ross Perry (among other indie auteurs) film. Still, these are the faces—bearded, gray, sort of handsome—and bodies—beer-bellied, thin-legged—of weekend anti-warriors, who take to the field like it’s a church, or a barstool. Lund conducted most auditions via Zoom, and he’s mentioned his admiration for “the casting ethos in films by John Cassavetes” and other directors who “embraces the ‘authentic’ and ‘unflattering.’” To me, Cassavetes, who famously would pluck friends and his wife for juicy lead roles, seems a mismatched lodestar for Lund, whose visual style (Lund has primarily worked as a cinematographer) is more polished, and dialogue (Lund co-wrote the screenplay with Michael Basta and Nate Fisher) that sounds rehearsed and somewhat predictable. 

The lack of starry names is, however, an asset, maintaining the game’s egalitarian posture. Most of the players suck equally. Some are really bad, others adequate or overachieving. It’s a clever casting gambit for Lund to include Bill “Spaceman” Lee, who makes an extended cameo to pitch and fart around. Lee pitched professionally from 1969-1982, as famous for his on field antics (deploying the loopy, high-arcing Eephus pitch) as his off-field sensibilities (opining on topics including communism, marijuana and school busing). And the most notable names of all might be the announcers: Frederick Wiseman introduces the film as a radio voice—explaining how school grounds will be built over the field—and Joe Castiglione (recently retired Boston Red Sox broadcaster) plays a food-truck vendor. Here, Lund’s flashing his fanboy cred, and tipping a hat to the old timers, including 94-year old Wiseman, who’s still at the top of his game.

Companionship, Camaraderie, and Baseball

Baseball has long been accused—since the beginning of time—of being slow or boring. So “Eephus” is accurate to portray the down time, especially when the play on the field is middling. The guys drink beer, lob insults, and settle scores. Rivalries on the field are matched by some bitter exchanges in each dugout. Player/Coach Graham (Stephen Radochia) is criticized and resented by his own pitcher Troy (David Pridemore) for the possible role he played (he’s an engineer) in erasing the beloved Soldiers Field. Most of the complaints are laughed away, and Lund doesn’t linger on speeches, aware that it’s all masking what can’t be said or articulated clearly. These guys are sad and scared, unsure how much they’ll miss what they’re about to lose: companionship, camaraderie, and a major tradition which energizes life itself. 

Few fans show up, and all but one leaves before the end. When the sun sets and the umpires leave, the guys get in their cars and turn the headlights on, reminding me not so much of my men’s league days but of Little League. Parents would do anything to make sure the kids could practice, and that included staying through the cold and dark. In these details, Lund nails the irrational dedication of fans and players, who too often have antagonistic relationships, but align perfectly for love of the game. The last run comes in way after hours in “Eephus” and the debate surrounding who wins is merely a ploy to extend the party, to delay the end of the funeral, when the players can shuffle out, in mutual, unspoken denial that no Sunday will ever look the same. 

A Sturdy Utility Player

As a film, “Eephus” is far from a home run. The laugh tenor is more ha than LOL, the locker room insults fairly routine. And when the play on the field is funny (painfully slow pursuits of balls in play, plodding head-first slides into home), sometimes it’s unclear if we’re giggling with or at it. Still, this is Lund’s debut feature-length film, and “Eephus” does stand out for a resistance to baseball movie cliches, especially at the end: no triumphant, exploding scoreboards (“The Natural”) or heart-tugging emotional release (“Field of Dreams”). And while not a Hall of Famer (“Bull Durham”) or an All-Star (“Everybody Wants Some!!”), “Eephus” is a sturdy utility player, whose best talent is showing up to play until the lights go off for good. If The Washups had a reunion tour, I’d hope we could do the same. 

“Eephus” screened at the 2024 New York Film Festival, which runs from September 27th – October 14th. Follow us for more coverage.