Kick me

If you’ve picked up Sync this week, you’ve seen I had a chance to chat with Jason Gammel, a kickballer who, along with friend Kenny Reynolds, just finished a documentary called “See ya Sunday” about the Little Rock Kickball Association and his team’s first season as a part of it.
(The film premiers this weekend at Market Street Cinema; see the article or the LRKA website for details on show times.)
Toward the end of that conversation, I asked if I could check out the movie early for this blog, and while Gammel didn’t have a DVD screener handy, he did invite me to his North Little Rock studio to watch the final cut of the film on his computer, an offer I gladly accepted. I figured it would be like watching one of those special edition DVDs with directors’ commentary, only in this case they’d actually be in the room.
Well, it didn’t turn out quite like that. In fact, nobody said a word until after the film was over. But it was a great time nonetheless, and I count myself privileged to be the first person other than the filmmakers to see the finished work.
And about that work: If you’re one to think of documentaries as super serious endeavors that have to either deal with topics of the utmost stuffiness or be narrated by a man whose voice put you to sleep back in high school history class, well then think again.
This film is funny.
Sometimes the comedy is simply in enjoying the outrageous images on screen: a remote controlled car delivering drinks to players on the field or a player dressed as Jesus (with jersey on over his robe).
Other times, it’s thanks to the directors’ clever mix of interview and image, as when you hear a person saying a newcomer who knows nothing about LRKA could get the wrong impression as you see a man lifting up his shirt to bare a hairy chest and rub his nipples.
Then there’s footage of Gammel, himself, completely whiffing on a ball he’s promised to kick the you-know-what out of instead of bunt. That one almost got cut, he tells me afterward.
It’s not the only footage of Gammel in the movie, though, as he is a frequent interview subject throughout. Indeed, he told me after watching that there’s more of him in it than he realized. While that could come across to some as self indulgent, it seems to me to be more out of necessity. Half the focus of the film is about how his team, the Atomic Catsicles, joined the league, and telling that story without him being a part of it seems a tall order.
That story leads to a little confusion, though, because while most of the film follows their path through the spring 2007 season chronologically, some of the interviews, which were conducted after the season was over, reference the success the team has had “before” they actually have it.
Still, “See ya Sunday” is enough to keep a smile on your face for the better part of 60 minutes, even if it’s not all laughs. The founding of the league in particular is a story more poignant than playful.
For those who don’t know about that story or how the league operates or the good work it does, the film should prove informative. For those who do but aren’t part of the LRKA (like me), it’s still amusing. And for kickballers, well, it should go without saying that the film is a must see.