Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Pinball: The Man Who Saved the Game’ on Hulu, a Delightfully Funny True-Story Comedy About Nothing At All Important

Once upon a time in this occasionally great nation of ours, many cruel, ignorant local governments oppressed its peoples by – please brace yourself for the inconceivable, undeniable, deeply unpleasant truth – banning pinball. The story of the end of this barbaric horror is told in Pinball: The Man Who Saved the Game (now streaming on Hulu), a biopic of obviously monumental importance. The savior in question is Roger Sharpe, a wizard (of pinball) who, insert spoiler alert joke here, did the thing in the title of the movie, saving New York City, America and possibly civilization itself in the process. And he did it while wearing a nutty-ass mustache. This, as they say, is his story, in all its highly consequential glory. 

PINBALL: THE MAN WHO SAVED THE GAME: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

The Gist: ’Twas a time when dummies thought pinball was no better than a slot machine, deviously separating poor unassuming civilians from their coins. And so pinball was banned in New York City and many other major burgs throughout the (snort) Land of the Free. Yeah, right! This was also a time when comic books were considered a moral scourge, but that’s another, different story about puritanical boobs making the rules in this country. Within the context of this tyrannically unjust society, a man, possibly born of a virgin, existed, and his name was Roger Sharpe. Two people play him in this movie: Mike Faist as the Roger Sharpe of the 1970s, and Dennis Boutsikaris as the current-day Roger Sharpe who narrates via mockumentary-style interview footage, and by once in a while walking into a scene to comment on how Hollywood has embellished his story to make it a little more interesting than it really was. If only that had also happened with American Sniper, right?

Anyway, Young Roger had quite a fantastic mustache, the type that would assure that only the broth from a bowl of chicken noodle would make it to his mouth. While attending the University of Wisconsin, he developed an affinity for pinball, and eventually he was drawing crowds of gawkers impressed by his abilities to nudge and finagle the flippers, which sounds like a euphemism, and it is, because I intended it to be. He moved to New York, got married and landed a gig in advertising, but didn’t work out too well – by the age of 25, he was a divorced, unemployed wannabe writer sitting on a sad mattress on the floor of an empty apartment. Cue two major Life Moments that helped lift him: First, he walks by a scuzzy XXX adult bookstore and hears the unmistakable ping-ping-ping of a pinball machine, so he goes inside and reignites his passion for the plunger and the paddles, which is also a euphemism. Second, he gets in an elevator on his way to a GQ magazine job interview, and meets Ellen (Crystal Reed), who’s charmed by his goofy, sincere nice-guy demeanor. And his mustache. It makes her giggle. (Ooh la la!)

Roger gets the job (“The pay is low, the hours are long, your coworkers are insane,” he’s told. “Great!” is his reply) and he gets the girl (“I’m 32, divorced, and I have a son.” “Great!”). They go out for lunch and, by about the third or fourth date, he takes her to the XXX bookstore. She looks at him like he’s Travis Bickle, as she should. Then he introduces her to Pinball As A Metaphor For Life: You can’t win pinball, because the ball always drains; it’s just about having fun. He sidles up behind her and puts his hands on hers as she operates the buttons, nuzzling her neck sensuously, and that’s when Older Roger steps in and points out how that never happened, and it’s just a cliche. I like this guy.

Roger pitches a pinball piece to his editor at GQ, who bites. He heads to his usual XXX spot for his regular fix, only to see the cops dragging the pinball machine out the door and smashing it. Roger didn’t know that pinball was illegal in New York City – the nincompoops in charge considered it a morally reprehensible game, linked to gambling and the mob. Well, cripes, Roger and the rest of the world surely are thinking, this seems silly. Meanwhile, his GQ article spins into a book deal, Ellen helps him type up his manuscript, he endears himself to her boy Seth (Christopher Convery) by giving him pinball pointers (Roger bought his own game and put it in his kitchen) and in the course of his research encounters an organization that I’ll call the Pinball Lobby because it’s funny – and the Pinball Lobbyists want Roger, a guy who can put the ball wherever he wants whenever he wants, to testify in front of a committee of objurgating politicians in order to make pinball legal. No spoilers, but again, I point at the title of the movie.

What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: Pinball is like The King of Kong crossed with Tetris or Flamin’ Hot – you know, stories about scrappy, lovable protagonists who work their tails off to achieve their dreams – but with far more charm and far less oogy corporate-brand sloganeering. 

Performance Worth Watching: Faist and Reed cultivate a sweet, simple chemistry that fleshes out the characters and makes this biocomedy engaging and worth our emotional investment. 

Memorable Dialogue: A random-dude pinball wizard who introduces Roger to the game gives him a pointer that’s applicable to Life Itself:

Roger: What do I aim for? 

Random dude: What you want.

Sex and Skin: None.

Our Take: The mid-century pinball ban stretched from New York to California and some points in-between – it wasn’t a federal law, but some states and local municipalities took up the ban – and it was obviously one of the most crass and egregious miniscule injustices in American history. For decades, children everywhere suffered a significant lack of pinball-related amusement, and passionate practitioners of pinball were considered to be all mobbed up, the victims of amoral criminals’ games of (shudder) chance. But Roger Sharpe – that guy was the unlikely hero pinball enthusiasts needed. He was hesitant. Fighting city hall is the act of a fool, you know. But he eventually came around and fought for what was right and virtuous, and because of him, today, you – yes, YOU – can plunk quarters into the Baby Yoda-themed pinball machine at your local bar or amusement center to your heart’s content. 

It was a hard-fought freedom, but is the story worth a whole movie? Yes. Absolutely. Well, this type of movie anyway, one that doesn’t take itself at all seriously, is light as a feather and features performances perfectly modulated to its winking tone and scrappy, understated style. Pinball: The Man Who Saved the Game is as hard-hitting as the Kitten Bowl, and about half as threatening. And that’s what makes it so damn delightful – it’s surprisingly witty, with an easygoing vibe, endearing characters and moderate, but never overbearing period nostalgia. I laughed a lot, rooted for our protagonist to win at the important things in life, namely, love, his career and a legal case against ignorant, judgmental doofuses. He never “won” a game of pinball, because, as he’d be quick to point out, you never, ever will. But you damn well deserve to enjoy yourself playing it. 

Our Call: STREAM IT. Pinball: The Man Who Saved the Game is a joy.  

John Serba is a freelance writer and film critic based in Grand Rapids, Michigan.