High & Outside: A Baseball Noir

The 2017 movie "High & Outside: A Baseball Noir" is a compelling drama that dwells on central themes of ambition, desperation, and self-destruction. The movie, directed by Evald Johnson and featuring a competent cast led by Geoffrey Lewis, Ernie Hudson, and Jason James Richter, takes you on an emotional journey through the pitfalls of a professional baseball career, set in a bleak, turbulent backdrop.

The central character, played by the critically acclaimed Geoffrey Lewis, is Phil Harding, an aging baseball player who, despite having a promising start to his career, hasn't lived up to expectations on the field. As time passes, a succession of unfortunate events has left him vulnerable. Harding grapples with the end of his career, the ghost of his father’s legacy, and his own spiraling emotional state. Phil's challenges consume him; he is driven by his relentless pursuit to carve a place for himself in the Major Leagues while the clock on his career seems to be running out.

Pivotal to the plot is Phil’s complicated relationship with his father, Len, a former Major League player portrayed by Ernie Hudson. This strained relationship forms a significant part of the overall narrative and adds depth to Phil's character. New facets of his personality are revealed as he grapples with the weight of familial expectations and legacy. His deep-seated need to outperform his father's legacy ends up becoming a major hindrance, entrapping Phil in an endless struggle to achieve an ever-elusive success.

The supporting cast includes Jason James Richter, who is set up as a foil to Phil. His character offers an outside perspective into the insular world of Phil’s making and dramatizes the stark difference between struggle and success in professional baseball. The relationships between these characters effectively amplify the themes of failure and desperation central to the narrative with their personal conflicts, showcasing the harsh realities often hidden behind the glamour of professional sports.

Set against the backdrop of gritty industrial towns and sprawling cityscapes, "High & Outside: A Baseball Noir" is as much about baseball as it is about the human condition. It emphasizes the importance of personal struggle in relation to ambition, personal-life, and the cost one is willing to bear in pursuit of professional glory. The dark, brooding look of the movie, characterized by the 'baseball noir' tag, complements the intense, raw emotions shared between the characters, perpetuating an atmosphere of doom and gloom right from the beginning.

This compelling drama thoroughly immerses the viewer in Phil's world, his struggles, and the overall narrative of the film. Evald Johnson's proficient direction, combined with pensive camerawork, results in an engaging visual storytelling style. The movie is a refreshing take on the age-old narrative of the 'fallen sports hero,' presenting it with a unique noir-themed twist.

"High & Outside: A Baseball Noir" also explores Phil's struggles off the sports-field, his personal life, addiction, and the ways he succumbs and overcomes them. The film delves deep into the psyche of a declining athlete, bringing out the despair, humiliation, and internal conflict they go through, making for an emotionally intense viewing experience.

Despite its somber themes, the movie does not lack in moments of warmth or humor. These fleeting moments offer some relief from the otherwise intense narrative, adding depth and humanism to the characters. The narrative is not limited to failure alone; it is also about redemption, about how one copes with failure, and how there's always, as in baseball, the chance for the next up-at-bat.

While deeply steeped in the realm of professional baseball, "High & Outside: A Baseball Noir" is a film that anyone can relate to – it's a story that delves deep into the human condition, the struggle with failure and redemption, personal weaknesses, and the fight for a dream. It draws the audience in with its sharp compelling narrative style, raw and honest portrayal of ambition, desperation and paints a poignant picture of the other, more gritty side of professional sports.