All Reviews

i think this idea should go to Hollywood....just my opinion but I would watch it.

I enjoyed seeing this movie as it touches upon a much needed topic of today,honesty!
Honesty,integrity and respect.

It still needs a lot of fine tuning and more depth but never the less I think it´s amazingly well done.

The acting was ok. I loved the story and the Dialogue and the Story structure. The ending was predictable though, but other than that it was great. It was really funny.

This was a really fun comedy. Low low budget, but give it 10 minutes and you'll see what I mean.

The plots pretty straightforward. A star player gets forced into community service as..(drumroll please) ...an umpire...and learns something about himself and the game he loves. Plus he finds a girl in the end. Simple and clean.

What I really liked about this test movie is the ensemble of characters. Everyone has something that is genuinely funny. The actors all provide good moments. This is definitely one of those movies where the humor of the script benefits from the ensemble rather than hindering it. I liked sick timmy, the ex-con, the baseball moms, the prisoners, the dike bar, the other umpires, the actor who plays like every other position on the baseball team...there's a lot that gets you laughing.

A few tweaks and an actual stadium full of fans and this could be a really good baseball movie. Funny, with a lot of heart to it.

This is exactly how I envisioned test movies - you creatively overcame any bigger budget obstacles (like filming at a local baseball field, to double for a sports stadium, or filming in a garage instead of a jail cell) to bring your story to the screen. And it works!

I liked the directing and the actors were great. Especially I enjoyed the guy who played the lead, Rob - I could imagine Adam Sandler or Ben Stiller in the role.

My only wondering/suggestion was whether the scene with the judge could've been a bit longer as it's pivotal to why he was forced to be an Ump? Maybe he could really annoy her with a rant against umpires, so she decides to "adapt" his community service to give him a taste of what it's like being an umpire...? Instead it felt like she'd already made up her mind.

Overall, this was fun to watch, I really admired the production values, and I could imagine 'The Umpire' playing at multiplexes. This could be a homerun in the making... Well done!

great film but the story structure could have been developed a bit more but over all i think this is a really great film and it keeps you wanting to watch more.

At first, I thought your test movie was so-so for location shots, but your actors and dialogue made it all believable. Well done! Although I have watched baseball most of my life, (not a nutcase follower) I would have to say I do not know if most situations you have created could happen. One that makes me wonder is your ending. Would a player be able to reverse an umpire’s call? Couldn’t the manager claim his player suffered a breakdown, and then replace him? The movie came in at seventy minutes, adding more to rushed scenes will solve that problem. Overall, as a sample of what could be with this story, your test movie does the job.

I'm not big on baseball, I'm more of a football kinda gal, but I have to say I enjoyed watching your test movie.

I like the way you creatively did your location shots and your fellow church members/friends were really good in their parts.

Your test movie is a good example of what can be achieved with a few willing friends, a video camera, and a well thought out script.

Well done considering your zero dollar budget.


MSC

It's been a few weeks since I watched this, but I must say it was a little weak. When a movie takes several minutes to get to the main line of action it looses the viewers attention. Movie goers are much more savvy than they were a few years ago.

In this movie the main character is forced to react before he begins his line of action, not act. In a great movie we see what the main character is up to in the opening scene. Think of some of the best recent movies, UP, we know in the opening scene that the main character wants to be a great adventurer, but in the process he changes. This movie allows the character to change and grow, but only after he is forced to do so

The story holds together well, though it could use some overall embelishment in the final. Very good acting by several of your friends that really held it all together. The lead was solid (though not professional) in his portrayal and a few others were exceptional amatures.

At first taken a little aback by the primitiveness of the sets but as I got into it (and accepted that it's a zero-budget shoot), it all worked quite well.

I hope you get some backing to make it into a more fleshed-out production.

Great Job!

Made just like a regular movie but wthout the soundtrack, big budget field shots or 10 star camera and sound work, this is easily the best test movie Amazon has to offer.

10-minutes into the film I saw The Rock as the lead (I'm probably alone there I know, but still ... ) all the actors do a great job delivering their lines and all play their roles well. Thumbs up for the lead, he could be someone to look out for.

The script (as you can see vfrom the 66-minutes running time) a little short and could do with an extra 10-minutes of screen time but other than that i don't see much of a problem excpt the "love story" being a bit quick (maybe add some minutes there.)

While the premise sounds dumb, boring and pointless, having watched the test movie I think I can safely say that it could have a great trailer to pull people in (though you may need that big star lead for grab most your cinema audiemence before word spreads for DVD.)

With access to good actors and decent producction skills it's a shame the filmmaker doesn't have a script based in locations he can easily use (like CLERKS) or he could use that prize money to make a feature and REALLY rake in the money.

Now, in closing I have to say it (I'm sory in advance) YOOOOOOUUUUU'RE OUT! (man that was a fun scene)

Get this script to Adam Sandler and the fat guy from Paul Blart ASAP!

Matt, let me start by congratulating you on all your hard work - paid off by this months 'Test Movie' prize.

As some have alluded the 'laughs' are few and far between - however something which can be fixed for sure.

I do think that it needs another level of sell in order to a) raise the stakes, b) lead to more laughs and c) increase the length by a good 12-15mins.

BUT as I said, you did it! Which no one can take away from you and as I've toyed with the idea of a Test movie myself these past several weeks KNOW just how Freakin' hard it is - especially for very lo/no money!

So I take my hat off to you and your 'team' as no one mans an island and all that.

Once again, congrats and all the best with developing it further to have a chance at the movie of the year Mil!

Take care, much respect, Jim.

Its a pleasant and relaxing comedy movie which I am sure deserves this recognition. Congrats team and a good work by Matt. Keep it up!

Rob fits in his role of a celebrity ball player with his own attitude and merges into the story well. With production limitations, the director Matt had done a wonderful job of recreating his creative lines at a baseball field. All the characters have suited well and especially the dialogues are the ones which will make the audience laugh along with the body language of the characters. In the name of training, when Rob does what seems to be irrelevant to be an umpire, one may get the feel whether the scenes were tailored to bring in the comedy aspect for the movie, But it is well justified when the coach reveals the reason during a prisoner's ball game.

The club 'B*****S' accent was different and the control factor reinforced more justification to the training. The leading lady did a quite job. Overall, the umpire would be a good entertainer.