Film Review: FACING RYAN: Affectionate Retrospective of the Patriarch and the Legend [SXSW 2022]

Facing Ryan Review

Facing Ryan (2022) Film Review, from the 29th Annual South by Southwest Film Festival, a movie directed by Bradley Jackson, and starring Nolan Ryan, President George W. Bush, Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez, Randy Johnson, Rod Carew, Dave Winfield, Craig Biggio, George Brett, Roger Clemens, Ruth Ryan, and Pete Rose.

This retrospective of Nolan Ryan reveals more of the homebody behind the baseball luminary.

The title itself specifically refers to those ‘facing Ryan’ on the mound, usually somewhere between trepidation and fear, as they prepare for the next of his infamous fast balls. Nicknamed “The Ryan Express,” these players considered the stoic Texan “intimidating.”

This is in sharp contrast to Nolan the husband, father, and grandfather, to which Jackson rightly pays equal attention.

Jackson puts together a chronological pastiche, alternating television clips, interviews with ball players, baseball pundits, and family. The slo-mo footage of his wind-ups are especially incredible to watch. It’s not for nothing that stills of these shots are often a boon to collectors. His form is perfect, certainly, but there is much more to it than that. His body displays grace and power that is nothing short of dazzling.

Among the television clips and interviews, a narrator with a folksy drawl provides helpful inside facts and background as well as statistics that baseball fans must know by heart. He sounds like the one in Disney back-to-nature documentary shorts from the Fifties and Sixties. But then, Ryan is pretty folksy himself, a laid-back, nice guy with a family every bit as nice as himself.

In particular, Jackson has the a special gift of intuition. He lets Nolan’s wife, Ruth, have the lion’s share of screen time. Naturally, she would offer insights that only a spouse could reliably convey.  But at some point he must have realized that Ruth must engage with her husband in a special way, athlete to athlete. Jackson’s intuition paid off. According to family members, Ruth has always been a bedrock of fortitude for her family, and it comes through with her interviews. She relaxed and exuberant in her honesty.

More importantly, she insisted that Nolan press on when, early in his career, it seemed his ‘wild’ pitching caused more frustration and disappointment than progress. Instead of quitting, Ruth suggesting a pitching coach. Soon after, Ryan worked with coach Tom House during his tenure with the Texas Rangers.

Baseball fans already know of the living legend of the pitcher from Texas with his notorious ‘wild arm.’ Already pitching no-hitters as a young teen, he made the Little League all-star league twice. His reputation as ‘The Ryan Express’ had its foundation in high school when batters refused to face him, and he could break the bones of catchers.

Just as Ryan the pitcher and Nolan the family man cum rancher show sharp contrast, so does his resumé. He has racked up 15 career records, though not all of them admirable. While he attained more than 5700 strikeouts, for example, he also has nearly 2800 walks on his record as well. He never pitched a perfect game. Nor did he ever win a Cy Young award, though his fellow players assumed that he had, even multiple times. Nonetheless, he pitched a record 27 seasons before retiring in September 1993 after trying to pitch past a torn ligament. Evidently there was nothing Ryan hated more than not finishing a game.

Bradley Jackson and his cinematographer, Jacob Hamilton, achieve a balance that draws in the viewer, sports enthusiast or not. They bring out Nolan Ryan’s natural temperament, which is much the same at home as it appears on the mound — plain-spoken, relaxed, amiable, modest, and to the point. Now retired to his ranch, Nolan seems as content and comfortable as his family. The geniality flows freely with no frills. It suggests a Jackson/Hamilton trademark, as can be seen when they collaborated on their acclaimed 2017 documentary, Dealt, exploring the life of the famous ‘card mechanic’ Richard Turner.

There are geniuses among athletes as there are in every field of human endeavor. For every Beethoven, there is a Babe Didrikson Zaharias; for every Hemingway, a Jim Thorpe. They quietly push the envelope, without fuss or glamor. They know hard work is its own reward. Facing Ryan confirms this phenomenon, because Nolan Ryan is among them.

Rating: 8/10

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