72
Metascore
10 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 88The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Barry HertzThe Globe and Mail (Toronto)Barry HertzMore entertaining than a dozen Major League Baseball games stacked on top of one another.
- 83The Film StageJohn FinkThe Film StageJohn FinkCorben finds humor in the absurdity; what might not be so apparent while you’re laughing your ass off is just how well-made and -researched a tale this is.
- 80The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeThe Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeA very entertaining film, stuffed with colorful idiots and serves-you-right twists. Silly in ways that reflect poorly of the filmmaker's taste but will endear it to many viewers, it's a true-crime tale that has much to do with Major League Baseball but requires no interest in the sport to enjoy.
- 80VarietyJoe LeydonVarietyJoe LeydonIt works surprisingly and consistently well as a storytelling flourish for a documentary that does not traffic in subtleties or moral indignation while repeatedly and boisterously posing the question: “Can you believe these people actually did this?”
- 75RogerEbert.comBrian TallericoRogerEbert.comBrian TallericoThis weird world is the perfect place for a movie like Screwball, Billy Corben’s stranger-than-fiction telling of the Biogenesis scandal and a movie filled with enough memorable moments that it should please both fans of baseball and those who gave up on the sport years ago.
- 70TheWrapRobert AbeleTheWrapRobert AbeleCorben’s account is a prideful slab of snark, about Florida, its usual suspects, and the glittering allure of fraud, which one interviewee states is “the unofficial state business.”
- 70Los Angeles TimesMichael RechtshaffenLos Angeles TimesMichael RechtshaffenInevitably, the oddball Elmore Leonard-meets-the Little Rascals conceit loses some of its wacky effectiveness, but while Corben might not hit this one out of the park, Screwball energetically rounds the bases.
- 70Film ThreatFilm ThreatScrewball is an entertaining way to bring a very serious scandal to light.
- 63Movie NationRoger MooreMovie NationRoger MooreHe’s a terrific documentary storyteller, as his drug trade documentaries made clear. He just got too cute for his own good and got in his own way a bit, here.
- 50Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperChicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperThe talented director Billy Corben swings for the fences and takes a decidedly creative approach, but unfortunately, he devotes far too many at-bats to one particular stylistic choice. Either you’ll find it original and funny and suitably outlandish, or, like me, you’ll grow weary of the technique.