Some of the biggest U.S. sports stars come under harsh scrutiny in the eye-opening – and queasily funny – SCREWBALL, which reveals the real story behind baseball’s notorious drug scandal. The film, by award-winning documentarian Billy Corben, will be released on Greenwich Entertainment DVD and digital platforms on June 4, 2019.
Recounting the high-profile doping scandal that rocked Major League Baseball, director Billy Corben (Cocaine Cowboys, Magic City Hustle) takes us into the surreal Miami underworld that provided performance-enhancing drugs to Alex Rodriguez, Manny Ramirez and other star players.
They say South Florida is a sunny place for shady people and this is certainly true of steroid peddler Anthony Bosch and his most notorious client, Alex Rodriguez of the New York Yankees. While Bosch’s medical credentials may be lacking, his storytelling skills are first-rate as he hilariously details the rise and fall of his “health clinic,” including mob connections, financial chicanery, his cocaine habit and Rodriguez’s eccentric behavior.
The documentary plays like a madcap Floridian crime comedy in the vein of Elmore Leonard, Carl Hiaasen and the Coen Brothers while it raises serious questions about the ethics of professional sports. Powerful interests would be happy to let this story slip from memory, but SCREWBALL makes it unforgettable.
SCREWBALL won the Audience Award for Best Documentary at the 2018 Key West Film Festival and the Audience Award for Best Feature Film at the 2019 Miami Film Festival. It was also an Official Selection at the Toronto International Film Festival.
“SCREWBALL energetically rounds the bases,” wrote Michael Rechtshaffen of the Los Angeles Times. The film is “fascinating as an examination of how carefully one needs to choose their allies, especially when they’re committing crimes,” said Brian Tallerico at RogerEbert.com.
Jason Price founded the mighty Icon Vs. Icon more than a decade ago. Along the way, he’s assembled an amazing group of like-minded individuals to spread the word on some of the most unique people and projects on the pop culture landscape.
