Wednesday, October 4, 2017

New Film Review - Let's Play Two

Let’s Play Two, the baseball-themed Pearl Jam documentary film by Danny Clinch opened in select theatres throughout the globe this weekend. Last night, I caught it at Cinemark Paradise 24 in Davie, FL with two of the people I attended my first Pearl Jam concert with last April (which was followed by my second the night after). Between the three of us, there was laughter, tears, and squeals of delight.

I am a relative newcomer to Pearl Jam fandom, but I am a quick study and went from zero to enthusiast in a very short time. It was inevitable that I was going to see this film, but I had additional impetus to check it out.

For me, the moment that Steve Gleason appeared was the zenith of the film, because I came to Pearl Jam by way of him. I had always been on the outside of the band, having somehow formed an incorrect impression of what their music was like and mistakenly thinking it wasn’t my thing. In October of 2013, when Gleason interviewed the band in anticipation of the release of Lightning Bolt, I watched my own misconceptions being shattered as these five amazing and humble guys tackled Gleason’s questions with honesty and real thought. The music from the companion piece from ESPN about Gleason’s bond with Pearl Jam stuck with me (after watching the piece at least 10 times in a couple of days, I imagine it would) and I preordered Lightning Bolt with the thought that Gleason hadn’t steered me wrong musically yet.

I am so glad he steered me to Pearl Jam.

This documentary is part concert, part baseball, and Clinch paired together the baseball segments with the songs in such an appropriate way that it almost felt like the songs were written to score the film. There were times during the concert portion of the film that I lost space and time and I truly felt that I was at a Pearl Jam show as opposed to sitting in a recliner at a movie theatre. Pearl Jam puts on an impassioned show and the Wrigley Field shows were hardly an exception.

Also explored is Eddie Vedder’s connection to Chicago, as he was born and raised there. Clinch juxtaposes Pearl Jam’s first performance at the Metro 25 years prior – and incorporates film of that show – with the spectacle that the Wrigley shows were. Pearl Jam went from opening act to having rooftop “freeloaders” watching their show from outside of the sold-out 41,000+ stadium capacity.

The band’s enthusiasm for music and Vedder’s enthusiasm for baseball are both unchanged.

Even for someone who isn’t particularly interested in baseball, such as myself, it is difficult to watch this film and not get caught up in the childlike glee Vedder feels for baseball and his beloved Cubs. It’s one thing seeing him sport the gear and sing the anthem he wrote for them – at the request of Ernie Banks, Vedder penned “All The Way” in 2007. (Sadly, Banks did not live to see the song lyrics come to fruition, but he did get to stand onstage with Pearl Jam in Wrigley Field in 2013 when they performed it. Incidentally, "let's play two" was Banks's catch phrase.) It’s quite another to watch a 28-year-old Vedder sniffing a strip of discarded stadium sod and the present-day man getting a beer shower when the Cubs advanced to the finals or throwing himself on home plate in joy when they won the World Series on November 2, 2016.

This film is an example of how fandom makes ordinary places sacred. It explores the deep connections between life, music, and sports, and the Venn Diagram intersection where they all meet is the focus of this documentary.

If I’ve come away with only two things from this film, they are that I want to go to Wrigley Field and see a Cubs game (and visit Murphy’s Bleachers across the street) and that I REALLY want to see Pearl Jam in concert again.

After the show, we spoke with a few fellow moviegoers and we all had the same post-concert feeling of brotherhood. This film is more than just a movie – this is immersive.

Let’s Play Two will be released on digital disc on November 17, 2017. To see the film in a theatre near you before then, check for local screenings.