Pinball: The Man Who Saved the Game

A few years ago a guy made a rather amazing ball machine that played music. Over the ensuing months, my FB feed was packed with "have you seen this?" It was sweet, it was funny, it was relentless.

And it's about to happen again. But for the record, yes, I've seen this, on the day it came out. My wife was reluctant at first - on seeing the title, she presumed it would be a nerd-fest like "A Fistful of Quarters - The King Of Kong" - but she was pulled onboard in the first 30 seconds.

We loved all of it. A piece of history told better than I could, and with a lot of stuff I didn't know, and a lot of Hollywood "treatment" to liven it up, and a determination make sure the audience knew the truth anyhow.

You don't have to be a pinball person to love this movie. It's beautifully shot, well directed, with credible characters and a story most of us haven't heard.

But if you love pinball as I do, it's even better.

Maybe it's when you have the least expectations that you can be the most enthused. I had not heard anything about this movie, did not know that the game had ever been banned anywhere, and have never played much pinball myself (never been any good at it, which helps, of course).

And I was absolutely delighted by this movie. It's an underdog story, obviously "based on real events", probably a little spiced up for the movie, and that's all right. The story is great, the characters are likable, the actors do a great job, the editing is neat, the direction efficient, the photography perfect. It's a very pleasant ride through and through, really uplifting. I loved it.

Maybe like a 7.5? The acting is good, the story is solid and interesting (you even learn things, historical elements, etc.), the movie making is good, and there's awesome 70's styling.

What really makes the movie a lot better than what it would have been should it have had standard story telling, was self-derision, making fun of itself, correcting itself, and inserting historical snippets. The movie includes a lot of small clichés, though makes fun of those clichés at the same time. There are some other clichés that were left unattended, but I guess that's okay.

On top of it being a generally good movie, I don't really see what there is to say. Should you watch it? I recommend it. Are there flaws in the movie? None other than small clichés, etc. Does it feel like one of the many "success story" films? Yes, it does. Maybe it's the slight lack of originality in the "success story bioflick" genre that lowers the score for me, but then again, what they did with the material, they did really well, and the story is certainly worth a movie.

I hesitated a long time between a 7 and an 8. In any case, you get the just that it's a good movie, though not that it will necessarily blow your mind or change your life.

Olympia, WA

We wore the clothes. We stretched to places we'd never before seen or known. Polyester. Damn. I want that sweater.

We played the game. We hoped to win. We watched the steel ball bounce, and dance and ping and sway.

The Greyhound bus depot had a cafe and one pinball machine. We learned how to tilt, to cheat, and to love the game. Sorry for the cheating. Thank you for the winning.

We ate. Sometimes it was food, and other times it was sustenance. Mostly it was survival. Pinball gave us hope.

Corn dogs.

The Future was ours, until it wasn't.

Amen. God. Whatever. Pinball is alive and it lives within all of us. If you have a machine to sell, we'll buy it. May Be.

This film left me feeling warm and fuzzy inside, without overdoing it. It takes a very interesting, relatively unimportant piece of American history and turns it into a wonderful story. Light without being superficial, educative without being preachy. A perfect pick me up on a rainy day.

The sets, clothing and actors are wonderful, the seventies are beaming from the screen, making me nostalgic for times I have never lived in. It feels very hollywood, which emphasises the American-ness of pinball, bringing you even more in the spirit of the movie.

The only thing that makes it a bit cringy at times (at least for me), is the breaking of the fourth wall. It's rarely done well, and I don't think this movie needed it. But again, that is just a personal preference, and it does add some extra information.

I would recommend this movie to anyone, especially those who like fun, interesting tidbits about history.