Fastpitch

If you think baseball could use a little livening up, there is an alternative -- fastpitch softball, a sport which was apparently once more popular than baseball, but is now dying out, played mainly by teams from little-known towns, many of whom import their players from New Zealand. Played on a smaller diamond than baseball, with only seven innings and a pitching mound much closer to the batter, the game may be deceptively named: One of the players tells us that "the ball isn't soft, and the game is hard." Directed by Jeremy Spear, a self described "ethnic milkshake" from New York who joins a fastpitch team from Ashland, Ohio, Fastpitch gives us a loving, insider's look that's compelling even if you don't care much for sports. Enjoy the political incorrectness of the Tampa Bay Smokers, whose mascot puffs a huge cigar, and respect the multiculturalism of any sport whose championship tournament features the singing of the Lakota tribal anthem alongside the United States and Canadian versions. The whole scene is an interesting blend of "backwoodsiness" -- athletic gear in Ashland is purchased at a store that specializes almost exclusively in car batteries and shoes, and Spear's dyed-blond hair elicits comparisons to Dennis Rodman -- and inclusiveness, as when one of Ashland's local girls marries a Maori player without any apparent repercussions. While you may not emerge from the film wanting to purchase the T-shirt that reads "I'd rather my sister be a prostitute than play slowpitch softball," you may find yourself feeling a nostalgia for the slow death of something you never knew existed before now, and a sense of admiration for the athletes who are actually in it for the game, given that, for the most part, they haven't a hope of making a living at it.