The Only Kurt Russell Movie That Has A Perfect Rotten Tomatoes Score
Is there any actor who casually oozes coolness like Kurt Russell?
As with anyone in Hollywood, the young Russell had to earn his stripes. Upon signing a contract with the Mouse House, he started out anchoring a collection of zany Disney comedies in the '60s and '70s, including "The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes," "The Strongest Man in the World," and "The Barefoot Executive," a movie that paired him opposite a chimpanzee. (As bizarre as it may sound, sharing the screen with an ape was practically a rite of passage for leading men of Russell's generation; just ask Clint Eastwood.) Beginning with their 1979 made-for-TV "Elvis" biopic, however, Russell and director John Carpenter collaborated on a series of highly efficient yet firmly modest genre films, many of which became cult hits and cemented their too-cool-for-school reputation.
Russell has only continued to evolve his legacy in the 21st century, starring in everything from cult favorites as worlds apart as "Sky High" and "Bone Tomahawk" to Quentin Tarantino joints and blockbuster franchises like the Marvel Cinematic Universe and The Fast Saga (not to mention playing the coolest Santa Claus ever in the "Christmas Chronicles" films). With so many iconic movies to his name, it begs the question: what is the best-reviewed film of Russell's career, so far as critics' ratings on Rotten Tomatoes go (for whatever value you place on them)? Could it be director George P. Cosmatos' crowd-pleasing '90s Western "Tombstone"? One of the actor's many pictures with Carpenter? Russell's 1992 comedy "Captain Ron"? (It's not "Captain Ron.")
The answer is a Sundance Film Festival breakout success turned Netflix documentary that many people have probably never even heard of, but focuses on a topic that is near and dear to Russell's heart.
The Battered Bastards of Baseball
There are two traditions among the Russell men: acting and baseball. Kurt Russell's father, Bing Russell, starred in the long-lived Western series "Bonanza" and was a minor-league baseball club owner, while Matthew Neil Franco — the son of Kurt Russell's sister Jill — played major-league baseball in the '90s and 2000s, and even Kurt himself had a stint as a minor-league player in the '70s. The exception here is Kurt Russell's son, Wyatt Russell, who was briefly a pro hockey player before he turned to acting full-time. What a rebel!
"The Battered Bastards of Baseball," a 2014 documentary directed by Kurt Russell's nephews Chapman and Maclain Way, explores the true story of the Portland Mavericks, which was the only independent American baseball team in the '70s and operated without a Major League affiliation under Bing Russell's ownership. (As someone whose knowledge of baseball is mostly limited to movies like "Moneyball," I'm assuming this means a lot more to all you sportsball fans out there.) Kurt Russell himself actually played for the Mavericks and served as a vice president, so he naturally ends up having a significant presence in the film.
As much as the movie allows the Russells to write their own legend, critics agree that the story of the Portland Mavericks deserves such lionization, as evidenced by its 100% critics score on Rotty T's (which is based on just 16 reviews, but hey, as with baseball, a win's a win). Critic Katie Walsh heralded it as the documentary equivalent of sports comedy classics like "Slapshot" and "Major League," while Variety's Scott Foundas wrote that "it's hard to imagine anyone not being seduced by [Bing] Russell's irrepressible joie de vivre." This one's not just for sports buffs either, with Duane Byrge writing for The Hollywood Reporter:
"[The Battered Bastards of Baseball] transcends the game and is a charming anti-establishment yarn that should delight audiences who don't even know an RBI from a balk."