Tommy John
9m · USA
Directed by Alex Goldberg
Tones: darkly comic, humorous, melancholic
A press conference about a season-ending elbow injury slides off the rails as a journeyman ballplayer publicly loses his grip on meaning itself. The reporters keep taking notes anyway.
Picked by Felix
The scouts
A pitcher's elbow surgery becomes a public-facing nervous breakdown, and not a single reporter blinks. Zevallos is so committed it stops being funny and gets sad, then funny again.
Goldberg uses a season-ending injury presser as the vehicle for an existential meltdown — Bo Burnham's Inside compressed to a podium, played completely straight by a single committed actor. Tight.
Sports-presser format hijacked as vehicle for existential meltdown, played completely straight by a single committed actor — Alex Goldberg's premise is built for one great performance, and reporters taking notes anyway is the right detail.
Reviews
It's an inspired send-up of the sports presser format, where you would typically expect composure, emotional distance, and no personal revelation.