Extra Innings is a 2019 drama about a young man who is caught between pursuing his dream and staying devoted to his Jewish family that is afflicted with mental illness.
You’ve probably already got it pictured in your mind, the title of writer and director Albert Dabah‘s new film Extra Innings lending itself to a certain theme. However, like most baseball movies, the sport is hardly ever the thing, with the real story being the drama surrounding the player (or players). So it is here, a coming-of-age tale based on Dabah’s own life that captures well the times and feel, recounting a touching personal journey with great care.
Young David (Aidan Pierce Brennan) loves baseball and is surprisingly good at the game, showing so much promise that his coach (Ed Bergtold) thinks the boy might have a future as a real player. Thing is, David is Jewish and his bar mitzvah is nearing, his family, especially his stern father (Dabah), not supportive of the sport, demanding he give it up and concentrate on taking over the family business. David has other issues though, his older brother Morris (Robby Ramos), afflicted with schizophrenia, sits sheltered in his room memorizing books and listening to music while their mother (Geraldine Singer) steadily loses grip in trying to take care of him. Then there’s David’s older sister Vivisan (Mara Kassin), living in California, who struggles with her own manic-depressiveness … and a secret that will soon come to light.
Mental illness wraps its claustrophobic fingers all around the already small world David tries to thrive in, he a bright, energetic boy trying to make the most of his troubled youth, pleasing his parents and secretly pursuing his baseball dreams. That of course means sacrifice, one for the other, a balance not always easy to maintain as he of course loves both. Then tragedy strikes and changes everything, signaling the end of childhood for David and just about everything with it. Or perhaps there hope in the loss.
These are heavy themes in a film that begins with a happy kid and a baseball game, but that’s life and thankfully, Dabah doesn’t overexpose these moments, keeping the story centered more on David’s growth in these stages rather than being audience to them. This continues when the film morphs to his senior year as David (now played by Alex Walton) experiences romance with Natalie (Simone Policano) – who is not Jewish – and mounting opportunities to do something with his talents, which would mean a move out west. Naturally, his parents want nothing to do with either of these, distressed he spends time with ‘those people,’ wasting his life instead of preparing for his future.
Extra Innings is a full plate with good humor and well-earned drama that keeps it low-key but always engaging with an inviting film style and a convincing time frame, refusing to be melodramatic despite the boundless potential. Baseball and its many influences on David cling to the story in impactful ways, as he lives with the struggles of his family. Dabah poses larger questions within all this with faith crucial to much in David’s development but never overwhelming, his devotion to baseball always the rope in his lasting tug-of-war.
There’s a warm, lived-in feel to Extra Innings, the film deeply respectful of its characters and its time, patient in allowing them to fill in the spaces they need as it all orbits David and his choices. Dabah, in his feature length directorial debut, is obviously well-connected to it and his cast feels as committed, the film never not authentic, even as some moments feel purposefully elaborated. A sentimental and profoundly sincere effort. Highly recommended.
Extra Innings premiered on May 5th at the Manhattan Film Festival