Ty Watches "The Gutter"

I was looking through the streaming services for a movie to watch earlier today. On Wednesday mornings I usually go for a decently long run and then have the afternoon to myself. I usually take that time to watch a movie. I always try to find something I haven't seen yet and that was just the case today. While looking through Hulu I found the movie "The Gutter".

I remember vaguely hearing about “The Gutter” through Paul Scheer and his podcast "How Did This Get Made". The movie came out over a year ago, but I remember Scheer talking about it when I was listening to episodes around that time. He is not the main guy, he has one very funny scene in the movie, but he was promoting it a ton and when I saw it today his talk jogged my memories. I also saw that the runtime was just over 90 minutes and I was in.

As the movie unfolded I found myself laughing and really enjoying my time. For people who may not know, "The Gutter" focuses on Walt, played by Shameik Moore. He moves from job to job and lives his life kind of aimlessly. He eventually finds a job at a bowling alley, working in the bar. The whole interview scene, this is right at the top of the movie, was great. We get a montage of sorts of Walt's former jobs and this stuff cracked me up. The owner of the bowling alley, played by Jackee, plays off Walt pretty perfectly. She is funny, makes more jokes than Moore and she was a delight to see on screen again. D'Arcy Carden is a former pro bowler who now gets drunk at the bar everyday. She basically lives there. I have enjoyed Carden's work since I saw her on "The Good Place". In "The Gutter" she plays a totally different character, but she is still hilarious and great. She is the one who finds out that Walt is actually a great bowler, and they go on an adventure together trying to save the bowling alley where they hang out and work. This is the conflict in the movie, and this is the main story line. Watching Moore as Walt being this great bowler was awesome. I have found that I enjoy movies that take place in and around bowling alleys. I adore "The Big Lebowski". "Kingpin" is a riot. I love the episode of "Documentary Now" that focuses on bowling. I guess I find that bowling makes for funny content. "The Gutter" is now firmly in that camp.

As Carden and Moore go on this road trip, we meet a ton of people. Susan Sarandon plays the "villain" of the movie. She is Linda Curson, a former professional bowler and beloved by her fans. She is upset that Walt is about to take over and break all her records. She does some things that aren't on the level to slow Walt down, but when that doesn't work, she decides to come back and challenge Walt. She doesn't do the back handed stuff on her own, she gets help from Angelo played by Paul Reiser. Resier is the host of a bowling show and he is, quite possibly, the funniest person in this movie. He knew the task at hand and he was up to the challenge. He had the most jokes and I feel like they all landed. During this we meet some of Walt's cousins, played by Langston Kerman and Jay Ellis. They were both great. Rell Battle plays Brotha Candy and he was awesome. He is always monologuing and going on about what he believes in. He is also kind of the savior of the bowling alley in the end, minor spoiler alert. Kim Fields plays Walt's mom and she was dynamite.

Look, is "The Gutter" the best movie ever made, no. But did I laugh and enjoy my watching experience, absolutely. I said aloud to no one that I loved how goofy the movie was. It never took itself seriously. The movie makers were in on the joke. This was kind of like a spoof in certain ways. I also found this movie to be hilarious. I thought Moore and Carden had great chemistry, and I liked that the movie made them just friends. Their partnership was never meant to be romantic. And then I found out that Yassir Lester was the writer and director, and it all made sense.

"The Gutter" is a good time and a very funny movie. Go find this movie and check it out. I highly recommend it. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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"Bull Durham" is the GOAT of Sports Movies

The movie "Bull Durham" has been on cable recently and I have watched it twice in the past month.

I love this movie. I think, as do many other people, that it is the best baseball movie of all time. I love "The Sandlot" and "Major League". I get down with "Little Big League". I finally watched "The Natural" from start to finish very recently. While all of those movies are very good, they are not at the level of "Bull Durham" for me. It is funnier than all of those movies, even "Major League". The jokes hit harder and they last longer. The baseball is so much better. It is filmed better and the actors look like they can actually play the game. The drama is understated and played off so much better in "Bull Durham". The love triangle is so well done. The stuff with Kevin Costner being this ragged, angry minor league lifer feels very true to life. I have to imagine that is how a minor league lifer would feel. I would bet they are bitter. Tim Robbins being this hotshot, young idiot was too good. He was magnificent in the role.

While watching it recently my son joined me. He was confused, but he was asking questions. That is his way of saying he likes something without actually saying he likes it. I knew he was intrigued, especially when they played baseball in the movie. That is high praise from him.

I think what makes "Bull Durham" the absolute best is the ending. All of the other movies I mentioned end happily. The Cleveland baseball team makes the playoffs at the end of "Major League". The kids in "The Sandlot" go on and have successful lives. Even the kid that gets into music in the 60's seems okay at the end. In "Little Big League" the Twins get beat by the Mariners, but everyone loves the young kid turned coach. They give him a standing ovation. The fans won't leave until the whole team comes out of the locker room. And in "The Natural", Robert Redford hits a homerun and all of the lights explode. It is this cathartic moment for Redford. He is back to being the star he was before he was hurt. But in "Bull Durham", Costner ends up breaking the minor league home run record, but we only know because Susan Sarandon tells us as the narrator. She even says that the papers do not mention his record at all. Costner is also not on the Durham Bull either when he breaks the record. He is on yet another minor league team. He does end up with Sarandon, but not until he leaves to break this record. He also has visions of becoming a coach. He selfishly leaves Sarandon alone, after being intimate with her many, many times, to do something for himself. And, when we see Costner and Sarandon at the end, they are dancing, and they seem happy, but if you watch the whole movie you can tell this relationship will not last. They have been at each other's throats the whole time. Sarandon picks Robbins over him. Costner may say he made the choice, but that is just his ego. The only person that has a "happy ending" is Robbins. But to get there he has to break Sarandon's heart. He gets called up to the majors and he, much like Costner's selfishness, does what he wants when he wants. So, how truly happy is this ending really?

I love this movie from start to finish. It is the absolute best baseball movie, and may be the best sports movie of all time. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.

Follow Ty on instagram.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.