directed by:
Stan Freeman written by: Stan Freeman genre: Sports, Drama |
“It’s such a great story of unfulfilled dreams…of shattered dreams.” I feel like I’m on Mike’s (Julian Findlay) side as “The Pitch” begins…there’s gotta be something more to the story of Vernon Peters, and it’s well worth pursuing. From what we’re told at the start, Peters was a pitcher for the New York Yankees – not for a season or a game, but for a single, solitary pitch. After that, Peters spirals out into alcoholism, homelessness, and dies soon afterwards. I hear where Mike is coming from in trying to convince a famous sports writer, Roger Pennell (John Haag), to edit the book he plans on writing about Vernon’s life. The story is unique; hence, we’ve also got a movie out of it! While there are a staggering amount of details to the plot that seem to be given to us before we even really know what we’re in store for, “The Pitch” makes it crystal clear that there is much more to this story that we don’t know, and what appears to be a drama at first, quickly shifts gears into being a mystery. We know that Roger is an old friend of Vernon’s, and we know that Peters had a sister named Bernice, but beyond that, there’s not too much to go on. As for Mike, the book writer, it’s worth noting that he’s definitely determined, but that he’s also never written a book in his entire life. You can sense the desperation in his situation & it seems like he’s using Roger for clout in order to get his book published, but it’s equally clear there’s a story beneath the story that Roger doesn’t want coming out.
From my perspective, Writer/Director Stan Freeman really found a great concept to work with and had me interested right away. I felt like I identified with Mike and Roger when it came down to it, but perhaps that’s just a result of us all being writers. I liked that Mike seemed to catch on to this feeling that there had to be something interesting about a man like Vernon Peters, who got close enough to his dreams to touch them and then seemed to throw everything away merely minutes later. As far as Roger goes, I liked that he was from the old-school. He’s unfiltered and unafraid to tell Mike that he’s using all kinds of clichés in his writing that are actually making his readers dumber by reading - because they’ve been used a million times. I love that kind of honesty, even though we know he’s got some other kind of agenda behind the scenes. I also love the fact that he’s still using a typewriter. He ain’t here to coddle Mike – Roger is a terminator with a red pen, ready to provide his criticism & sarcasm at all times. We get the sense that to finish his book, Mike’s going to have to grow up real damn quick. As far as the technical details are concerned & whatnot, “The Pitch” does fairly well with what it has. This is an indie film, probably shot on a very small budget, but Freeman is really able to get the most out of it by relying on what really matters in a story like this – the characters. To a large degree, “The Pitch” isn’t really the story of Vernon Peters but rather the tale of Mike and Roger. Freeman is able to shift between these two aspects of the plotline with ease, which I liked…he’s found a great way to tell this story and keep us continually interested despite the fairly ‘normal’ appearance of the scenes onscreen. It’s not a Hollywood film – this is grassroots stuff, and the look reflects that. That’s not to say Freeman doesn’t have the skills he needs – he definitely does.
Ultimately, his main strengths are in knowing what he wants to show us onscreen and having the confidence in his actors to deliver, which I felt like both Findlay and Haag did. Where Freeman has room and opportunity to grow as a filmmaker would be in technical aspects like the audio - dealing with the ambient sound of the microphones a lot more proactively to limit the hiss and audible imbalance he experiences switching scenes & going from indoors to outdoors. I also felt like because “The Pitch” often plays like a drama with a hint of mystery, it’s more beneficial to the audience to stick with wider shots as opposed to being so tight with the lens on his actors and using a series of quick cuts. The effect of moving things around so fast visually - is that it potentially prevents the audience from really absorbing key details because they can’t stop focusing on the way the camera is constantly moving. Freeman seems to get this at times and lets the scenes speak for themselves, but at others, he’s speeding through the scenes with quick cuts that tend to detract from the way a drama typically moves. Essentially, that age-old wisdom is being passed over here – everything you do, from the words to the execution, needs to serve a purpose. I had a hard time justifying the quick cuts in this context, but again, I like what Freeman has written in his script and I appreciate that he keeps this story moving. As Mike continues to dig into the details of Vernon’s past and tracks down his wife, we start to realize that there is more to Roger’s story and how it relates to this mystery – in fact, you might even say he’s a key piece to this whole puzzle. Through several flashbacks, we see the story unfold, but unfortunately for Mike, everything Roger tells him is completely off the record. Findlay has his moments where he fits the character spot on, and he’s also got a few that seem a little inexplicably aggressive and over-dramatic, even though we know he’s determined to get to the heart of the story. Roger becomes more forthcoming with the details as Mike starts to piece things together, and we start to see what a crucial part he played in the direction of Vernon’s life and the downward spiral he ends up in. “The Pitch” ends up being a story of regrets on several levels, and I think people will enjoy this, sad as it might be. Freeman has written this movie in a very cohesive way, and it wraps up with a strong conclusion that is satisfying & makes sense. It’s fair to say that “The Pitch” is very heavily reliant on its dialogue, characters, and the actors that play them – I’d listen to any argument that would say this movie is really just a couple of dudes talking for the most part…but yeah, I thought this worked out well. I’m going with three and a half stars out of five. Sure, there is some room for Freeman to sharpen his craft further, but only to refine the skillset that he already has – he’s clearly capable of telling a story the right way. “The Pitch” is entertaining because it’s a tale well told & genuinely interesting from start to finish, and it serves as a reminder that the truth & the full story always comes out in the end - for us all. |
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