Ever since the rise of the 30 for 30 documentary series, the often deathly-serious tone of those films has been a bountiful well of parody opportunities. Take any ridiculous sports movie, get some talking heads to break down everything that didn’t make sense, preheat the oven to 400 degrees, and bake for preferably no longer than five minutes.
This one, about Angels in the Outfield from CollegeHumor, is one of the best of the bunch, mostly thanks to its killer cast. Tim Kurkjian is the perfect incredulous reminiscer about real baseball stories, so he’s completely at home. Doug Glanville acquits himself well.
But let’s be real, the two members of the actual cast are the winners here. Neal McDonough, who played dolt pitcher Whitt Bass, is probably even funnier in this version (he’s a better actor now). And they got J.P (Milton Davis, Jr.) back! Anyone who’s rewatched Angels as an adult has to wonder what happened to J.P., since his movie buddy kind of turned into one of the biggest movie stars on the planet. And J.P. even gets the “taken from an earlier interview” treatment reserved for dead people or notorious recluses! It’s perfect.
Shame they couldn’t get Matthew McConaughey for this one. Guess he’s too serious for all this now. You’ve changed, McConaughey.
