“Extra Innings” offered beguiling viewing in its early scenes, as we come to know teen David in Brooklyn in the 60s, passionate about baseball against the wishes of his devout Syrian Jewish family. Aidan Pierce Brennan is brilliant as David, coping with both familial barriers and the looming tragic presence of his older, psychologically troubled brother. But this promising start is squandered by a second half, covering David’s move to California to tilt at a professional baseball career. Haunted by a family tragedy and riven by his family’s lack of interest in his vocation, the stage was set for a resounding narrative and conclusion. But lackluster casting and acting, with the actors hamstrung by a plotline that peters out, fail to match the atmospheric milieu of the flower power era. I left the cinema troubled by a real sense of failed ambition. Extra Innings retains interest throughout but interest does not a drama make.
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