By Paul M. Banks
There’s been so many great sports movie over the years, but no one directed the great American wiffleball film. Until now, or at least in short film format. “Wiffleball ’79” co-directed by Perry Jenkins and Travis Kurtz is about 5 minutes long and was shot in 16mm. I have to admit it is the greatest short film about wiffleball that I’ve watched online in my entire life
I have to hand it to the producer/directors here for making this period piece look so authentic. It’s obviously set in 1979, the year after I was born, so I appreciate the film’s score and style of footage. It’s reminiscent of all the late ’70s/early ’80s filmstrips they used to show me in grade school. Then there’s the costumes; which are on par with “Dazed and Confused” and “Miracle,” in terms of displaying Carter era garb. It’s also a little too shirtless for my tastes, but then again “shirtless driving season” starts up again in about two weeks, and we all know and love that time of year.
You can also tell it’s 1979 given some of the politically incorrect and borderline offensive language in the film, but hey that’s life when you’re scripting for authenticity on the wiffleball diamond. Watch below: