Pastime (film)

Last updated

Pastime
Pastime poster.jpg
Canadian video poster
Directed byRobin B. Armstrong
Written byDavid Eyre Jr.
Produced byRobin B. Armstrong
Eric Tynan Young
Starring William Russ
Glenn Plummer
Noble Willingham
Jeffrey Tambor
Scott Plank
Cinematography Tom Richmond
Edited byMark S. Westmore
Music by Lee Holdridge
Production
companies
Bullpen
Open Road Productions
Distributed by Miramax Films
Release dates
Running time
94 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$267,265 [1]

Pastime is a 1990 American sports drama film directed by Robin B. Armstrong and written by David Eyre Jr. The film stars William Russ, Glenn Plummer, Noble Willingham, Jeffrey Tambor, and Scott Plank. The film premiered on November 8, 1990 at the London Film Festival and screened at the 1991 Sundance Film Festival under the title One Cup of Coffee, where it won the Audience Award for U.S. Dramatic Film. The film was acquired by Miramax Films and was theatrically released as Pastime on August 23, 1991. [2] [3]

Contents

Plot

In 1957, a California low-level minor-league baseball team called the Steamers has a pitcher way beyond his prime, 41-year-old Roy Dean Bream, who reminisces about his brief "cup of coffee" in the Major Leagues and how the great Stan Musial once hit a grand slam home run against him.

New to the team is 17-year-old Tyron Debray, a fireballing pitcher Bream immediately takes under his wing. Because one is old, talkative and white and the other young, quiet and black, various tensions materialize on the team, many of them instigated by Randy Keever, a bad-tempered bully who is another of the team's pitchers.

Bream is keeping a secret as he goes through what is likely to be his final season, a heart condition for which he is taking medication. His dream is to see young Debray succeed and to get one last chance himself before giving up America's "national pastime," baseball, once and for all.

Cast

MLB players Ernie Banks, Don Newcombe, Duke Snider, Harmon Killebrew, Bob Feller, and Bill Mazeroski have cameos in the film. [4]

Reception

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 50% approval rating based on 10 reviews, with an average ranking of 5.7/10. [5]

Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly gave the film a score of "C+", saying "The movie turns out to be the opposite of Bull Durham : Instead of undermining baseball clichés, it re-embraces them." [6] Marjorie Baumgarten of The Austin Chronicle gave the film 1 star out of 5, but praised the acting. [4]

Accolades

Under the title One Cup of Coffee, the film won the Audience Award in the Dramatic category at the 1991 Sundance Film Festival. [7] At the 1992 Independent Spirit Awards, the film received nominations for Best Male Lead (William Russ), Best Supporting Female (Deirdre O'Connell), Best Supporting Male (Glenn Plummer), and Best Cinematography (Tom Richmond). [8] [9]

See also

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References

  1. ↑ "Pastime (1991)". Box Office Mojo . IMDb . Retrieved August 5, 2021.
  2. ↑ "Pastime". American Film Institute . Archived from the original on September 28, 2015. Retrieved January 16, 2016.
  3. ↑ James, Caryn (August 23, 1991). "Review/Film; Fly Balls and Philosophy, All Minor League". The New York Times . Retrieved May 6, 2023.
  4. 1 2 Baumgarten, Marjorie (October 4, 1991). "Pastime" . Retrieved August 5, 2021.
  5. ↑ "One Cup of Coffee (1991)". Rotten Tomatoes . Fandango Media . Retrieved May 6, 2023.
  6. ↑ Gleiberman, Owen (September 6, 1991). "Pastime". Entertainment Weekly .
  7. ↑ Harmetz, Aljean (January 26, 1991). "Sundance Festival Honors Gay Film". The New York Times .
  8. ↑ "1992 Nominees" (PDF). Film Independent . p. 49. Retrieved May 6, 2023.
  9. ↑ 7th annual Spirit Awards ceremony hosted by Buck Henry - full show (1992) | Film Independent on YouTube
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