David Duchovny’s directorial debut, “Reverse the Curse”, is a family drama that attempts to tug at the heartstrings but ultimately falls flat. The film relies too heavily on genre tropes and lacks depth and atmosphere, making it a shallow and predictable tearjerker.
The story follows Marty Fullilove, a widower dying of cancer, and his son Ted, who becomes his caretaker. Marty wants to rewrite his story before he dies, and Ted decides to patch up their relationship by playing caretaker. The movie takes a turn when Ted and Marty decide to fake their way to happiness, using the Boston Red Sox’s 1978 season as their inspiration. Despite the charm of the performances, the film’s inability to create a sense of atmosphere or immersion holds it back.
The cinematography is bland, and the production design is reductively “Suburban Minimal”. The tone is all over the place, veering wildly between seriousness and goofiness. Even the performances, which have their moments, feel forced and lack guidance. Logan Marshall-Green, who plays Ted, is out of place in his hippie-dippie costume, and Stephanie Beatriz, who plays a grief counselor, is similarly misused in her nurse’s outfit.
A Still From Reverse the Curse (Via IMDB)
The chemistry between Marty and Ted feels artificial, and their bickering about childhood memories comes across as insincere. Not everything falls flat, however. Pamela Adlon shines as a literary decisionmaker, and Duchovny himself manages to wrestle a few gags free from the overwhelming staleness. The ballbusting barber-shop buddies are the highlight of the film, and there’s an earnestness at the film’s core that surfaces when allowed to.
Unfortunately, the rest of the film is predictable and feels like an assembly line product. The characters’ trajectories are predetermined, and there are no curveballs. The Red Sox obsession that Marty has doesn’t even feel thematically empowered, and the rekindled relationship between Ted and Marty is the focal point of the story. Unfortunately, it’s all very mundane and unceremonious.
In the end, “Reverse the Curse” is a paint-by-numbers tearjerker that fails to knock its blend of sports fandom and family values out of the park. It’s a disappointing and shallow drama that fails to create any real emotional resonance.
