Off the Beaten Path -Ballhawks
A couple years ago, I got tipped off to a great little movie called Summercamp. I sought out the film and wasn’t disappointed. Even before that there was a little documentary called Prize Whores. It was about men and women with one mission and one mission only…winning radio contests! This year the film I searched out this summer was Ballhawks, a documentary about the men who chase home run balls on Waveland Avenue outside of Wrigley Field. And let me tell you, this is a home run.
I was made aware of it through the folks down at the Indianapolis Film Festival (who I follow on Twitter). When it walked away as the winner of Best Matter of Fact Feature I had to see the film.
So despite not being a Chicago Cubs fan, hey I like the team 90 miles north in Milwaukee OK, I liked the premise that Ballhawks was based on.
Anyone who has grown up in the Midwest in the 80s and 90s has seen Cubs games on WGN. There are a number of highlights of the men on Waveland Avenue catching balls as they sailed out of the “friendly confines” of Wrigley Field. But who were these men of the street that responded with cat like quickness to the crack of a bat that they couldn’t even see from their location.
The Ballhawks are about as varied a group of people as you can imagine. They work as a unit at times to help each other out, but when the ball leaves the yard, all bets are off. There are pileups of human beings as balls are squirting around the street. But even in the pileups, there are a select few that come out with balls.
The varied characters intrigue from the get go. The look inside the minds of men who spend a good portion of their lives just waiting; waiting for something that may never happen on a given day, but still waiting nonetheless.
There is Moe Mullins – he is the consummate pro of the group. Over 4,000 catches of balls to leave a ball park. Some from Wrigley, others from Spring Training and still others from a number of different baseball stadiums, the man is a machine when it comes to being in the right place at the right time, and he has the balls to prove it.
There are men who feel a part of the action and who are dreading the day when Wrigley Field does a bleacher expansion. A piece of the charm that is Wrigley Field is about to change, and the Ballhawks wonder if each ball they catch may be their last.
Director Michael Diedrich does a magical job of exposing the community of the Ballhawks. Showing how passionate they are about what they do. Enlightening the viewer to the intriguing as well as the curious that exists on Waveland Avenue and in the community as a whole.
The Narration is provided eloquently by Bill Murray. It is that of a Cubs fan; a fan that has lived and died with the team that the Ballhawks so passionately follow. He was the perfect choice to tell the tale of the eccentric yet fun Ballhawks.
Sure there are some hiccups in the film that were bound to exist. It is a touch short and spends a bit too much time in some on some of the characters that wanders astray. But the indulgence works and doesn’t distract from the overall attitude of the film.
These guys are something else and this film is well worth the accolades it has been receiving. Baseball fans should search this out. Cubs fans should REALLY search this out. And sports fans in general will love this look into a unique aspect of the sports lexicon. Ballhawks is a delight, even for this critic who isn’t a Cubs fan. To cheer for this is akin to cheering for the opposition, but it scores on every level.
Check out http://www.ballhawksmovie.com/
Or follow the film on Twitter to see when it is showing near you! @BallhawksMovie
B+
Ballhawks
Dir: Michael Diedrich
Narrated by Bill Murray
A couple years ago, I got tipped off to a great little movie called Summercamp. I sought out the film and wasn’t disappointed. Even before that there was a little documentary called Prize Whores. It was about men and women with one mission and one mission only…winning radio contests! This year the film I searched out this summer was Ballhawks, a documentary about the men who chase home run balls on Waveland Avenue outside of Wrigley Field. And let me tell you, this is a home run.
I was made aware of it through the folks down at the Indianapolis Film Festival (who I follow on Twitter). When it walked away as the winner of Best Matter of Fact Feature I had to see the film.
So despite not being a Chicago Cubs fan, hey I like the team 90 miles north in Milwaukee OK, I liked the premise that Ballhawks was based on.
Anyone who has grown up in the Midwest in the 80s and 90s has seen Cubs games on WGN. There are a number of highlights of the men on Waveland Avenue catching balls as they sailed out of the “friendly confines” of Wrigley Field. But who were these men of the street that responded with cat like quickness to the crack of a bat that they couldn’t even see from their location.
The Ballhawks are about as varied a group of people as you can imagine. They work as a unit at times to help each other out, but when the ball leaves the yard, all bets are off. There are pileups of human beings as balls are squirting around the street. But even in the pileups, there are a select few that come out with balls.
The varied characters intrigue from the get go. The look inside the minds of men who spend a good portion of their lives just waiting; waiting for something that may never happen on a given day, but still waiting nonetheless.
There is Moe Mullins – he is the consummate pro of the group. Over 4,000 catches of balls to leave a ball park. Some from Wrigley, others from Spring Training and still others from a number of different baseball stadiums, the man is a machine when it comes to being in the right place at the right time, and he has the balls to prove it.
There are men who feel a part of the action and who are dreading the day when Wrigley Field does a bleacher expansion. A piece of the charm that is Wrigley Field is about to change, and the Ballhawks wonder if each ball they catch may be their last.
Director Michael Diedrich does a magical job of exposing the community of the Ballhawks. Showing how passionate they are about what they do. Enlightening the viewer to the intriguing as well as the curious that exists on Waveland Avenue and in the community as a whole.
The Narration is provided eloquently by Bill Murray. It is that of a Cubs fan; a fan that has lived and died with the team that the Ballhawks so passionately follow. He was the perfect choice to tell the tale of the eccentric yet fun Ballhawks.
Sure there are some hiccups in the film that were bound to exist. It is a touch short and spends a bit too much time in some on some of the characters that wanders astray. But the indulgence works and doesn’t distract from the overall attitude of the film.
These guys are something else and this film is well worth the accolades it has been receiving. Baseball fans should search this out. Cubs fans should REALLY search this out. And sports fans in general will love this look into a unique aspect of the sports lexicon. Ballhawks is a delight, even for this critic who isn’t a Cubs fan. To cheer for this is akin to cheering for the opposition, but it scores on every level.
Check out http://www.ballhawksmovie.com/
Or follow the film on Twitter to see when it is showing near you! @BallhawksMovie
B+
Ballhawks
Dir: Michael Diedrich
Narrated by Bill Murray
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