Austin Film Festival Preview: Left Field

It’s a game they hadn’t played since grade school, everyone holds a beer while they play, and they run the wrong way around the bases. The appeal of a game of kickball is obvious. No one ever has to grow up and having fun comes ahead of winning. Sounds like fun, right?

Yes, “fun” is definitely the word to describe this group of rowdy Chicagoans who started a kickball league as a “social experiment”, which is documented in the doc Left Field. This ragtag gang of twenty- and thirtysomething misfits never added up to what their parents wanted them to be, and admit it with a smile. Living, loving, and generally enjoying life in a way very few do, it’s not hard to get swept up in the excitement and pure visceral joie de vivre this carefree bunch of slackers (who would fit in just fine right here in the ATX, it must be said) take with them everywhere.

But somewhere amid all the drinking, swearing, mock brawls, and (oh yeah) the kickball games themselves, this film becomes about something more than kickball. Because somewhere along the way this group of outsiders that couldn’t find a place to belong became a family—a family, as someone says, “that you can choose.”

This film starts out like a relaxing day at the park, and there are quite a few names to keep up with, but you’re having so much fun watching them pile on top of each other hooting in victory (or just cause the inning’s over), you won’t even mind. And when reality does set in, you’ll want to watch to see what they do when more than just game is on the line.

Left Field is part of the AFF Documentary Feature Competition. Check out the complete schedule here.