David Duchovny's highly acclaimed 2016 book "Bucky Fucking Dent" was a hit, making it a perfect choice for a movie adaptation. Who else would be better to do the job? What makes David Duchovny a good writer, director, and co-star? Or, depending on what Reverse the Curse turns into, "who makes the most sense" might be a better term. The way Duchovny combines baseball, parenting, and death in his acting is strange on screen. The whole thing veers awkwardly between lackluster Hallmark insincerities and schmaltzy 1970s sitcom goofiness, the story's sad and hopeful themes drowned out by a choppy sense of humor.
Duchovny plays Marty Fullilove, a widower from the Tri-State area who is dying of cancer after smoking cigarettes all his life. Marty's son Ted (Logan Marshall-Green), who sells peanuts and wants to be a writer, hears the news by accident and chooses to fix his relationship with Marty by taking care of her. Ted and Marty argue right away about embarrassing childhood memories that need to be apologized for, but Marty is trying to change his story before he dies with the help of his grief counselor, Stephanie Beatriz's Mariana Blades. That makes Ted think of the 1978 Boston Red Sox season. What if Marty's favorite baseball team, the "Sawx," can break their curse and beat the New York Yankees in the playoffs? Maybe Marty can stay alive and happy, even if Ted has to lie about their win.
Duchovny goes too far back in "Reverse the Curse."
No matter how hard Reverse the Curse tries to hit you in the feels, the notes just don't sound right. Before Matry's final bow, there are some sweet moments between father and son as stubborn people learn to forgive each other. But too often, the experience feels fake and over-the-top. Cinematographer Jeff Powers shoots a boring, clean drama that moves forward and hits play, and the production design stays "Suburban Minimal." When Duchovny looks at things, they are too far away for me to feel any feeling.
The worst sign is to be a loving baseball fan with a stubborn and closed-off Boomer father and not feel anything from Reverse the Curse.
In her hippie-dippie cosplay, Logan Marshall-Green plays 33 years old as a later forty-year-old, just like Stephanie Beatriz does in her nurse outfit. Marty is a pain in Ted's behind, but they're trying to work out a lot of issues that have come up because Marty is the family's "Ad Man" and makes a lot of money. Marshall-Green plays his part in the typical way that sons do when they realize how much their distant dad loved them. He is at his funniest when he laughs out loud in disbelief when Marty doesn't do what he's supposed to. Most of the time, though, Marty and Ted's relationship feels fake and shiny. As the tone changes, the players don't do a good job. For example, after a "funny" fart war in a hotel room, there's a sad and gloomy scene the next day.
It's a shame because there are parts of the group that work well. Pamela Adlon plays a literary judge who reads Ted to filth as a generic white male author who doesn't have any lived-in traits or a unique point of view. Their teasing is slyly funny. There are a few jokes that Duchovny manages to pull off that hit us in the gut or make us laugh, and he faces the Grim Reaper with a hard acceptance (and a lot of "reefer"). Marty's ballbusting barbershop friends are typical senior thugs, but they're also almost the best thing about Reverse the Curse. At the heart of the movie is sincerity and goodwill that rules when it comes out.
'Reverse the Curse' is too easy to guess thanks to Duchovny.
The issue turns into, well, anything else. Duchovny's adaptation is going in a straight line, like an object made on an assembly line. When Ted gets there, he addresses Marty and starts to like Mariana right away. There are no surprises because everyone is following their set paths. Marty's obsession with the Red Sox doesn't even feel thematically powerful because baseball scenes aren't given much attention beyond newspaper headlines and radio broadcasts. The story is clearly about Marty and Ted's new relationship, but there aren't many characters, so everything comes across as unremarkably dull.
Duchovny isn't getting Reverse the Curse passed by anyone. You can't help but feel sad while watching this movie because it falls short of so many great opportunities to really make the idea stand out. Duchovny doesn't show that he can handle changes in tone, real acts, or anything else besides actors playing pretend. The story about "Bucky f*cking Dent" is great, but a lot of the movie feels like it was made during a slump. Reverse the Curse takes a confident swing, but it lacks the basic skills to hit a home run. This out-of-synch heartwarmer that feels cold to the touch barely gets on base.
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