1990 film by Robin B. Armstrong
Pastime is a 1990 American sports drama film directed by Robin B. Armstrong and written by David Eyre Jr. The film stars William Russ, Glenn Plummer, Noble Willingham, Jeffrey Tambor, and Scott Plank. The film premiered on November 8, 1990 at the London Film Festival and screened at the 1991 Sundance Film Festival under the title One Cup of Coffee, where it won the Audience Award for U.S. Dramatic Film. The film was acquired by Miramax Films and was theatrically released as Pastime on August 23, 1991.[2][3]
Plot
In 1957, a California low-level minor-league baseball team called the Steamers has a pitcher way beyond his prime, 41-year-old Roy Dean Bream, who reminisces about his brief "cup of coffee" in the Major Leagues and how the great Stan Musial once hit a grand slam home run against him.
New to the team is 17-year-old Tyron Debray, a fireballing pitcher Bream immediately takes under his wing. Because one is old, talkative and white and the other young, quiet and black, various tensions materialize on the team, many of them instigated by Randy Keever, a bad-tempered bully who is another of the team's pitchers.
Bream is keeping a secret as he goes through what is likely to be his final season, a heart condition for which he is taking medication. His dream is to see young Debray succeed and to get one last chance himself before giving up America's "national pastime," baseball, once and for all.
Reception
On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 50% approval rating based on 10 reviews, with an average ranking of 5.7/10.[5]
Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly gave the film a score of "C+", saying "The movie turns out to be the opposite of Bull Durham: Instead of undermining baseball clichés, it re-embraces them."[6] Marjorie Baumgarten of The Austin Chronicle gave the film 1 star out of 5, but praised the acting.[4]
Accolades
Under the title One Cup of Coffee, the film won the Audience Award in the Dramatic category at the 1991 Sundance Film Festival.[7] At the 1992 Independent Spirit Awards, the film received nominations for Best Male Lead (William Russ), Best Supporting Female (Deirdre O'Connell), Best Supporting Male (Glenn Plummer), and Best Cinematography (Tom Richmond).[8][9]
