Special When Lit (2009)

Too much of everything

Such a frustrating disappointment

Memorable, crazy movie

Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

the subject matter of this "documentary" appears at a glance to be the once and no longer popular game of pinball. it's history, it's demise, et cetera. look again and it's true subject matter becomes the idiosyncratic nature of those who inhabit the closed world of pinball. the filmmakers seem to have an ambivalence regarding these odd people which borders on schizophrenia. at once they are shown endearingly and then again the camera almost begs to linger on their weirdness, to leer and almost mock. much like it's sister film "King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters" the filmmaker seems like an outsider who perhaps enjoys the hobby while sneering at those for whom the hobby is the whole of their life. As a film it's motto might as well be Sartre's "hell is other people" When not spending time deciding between loathing and tender approval of it's subjects a dry and basic history of pinball plays out. more emphasis on this could have gone a long way. as it happens i love the game so to see the game as almost an afterthought in the film is disappointing. so be it. take what you can get.

"Special When Lit" tells the story of the pinball machine, a game that was once deemed a form of gambling and became one of the most popular forms of entertainment for the latter half the 20th century. The film documents the rise of pinball while interviewing some of the game's early designers to the modern day manufacturers who still continue to build the games long after the pinball craze died out. We also get a look at many of the game's fervent players;, from neighborhood fan- clubs, to obsessive collectors to even the world pinball championship known as PAPA and many other people whose lives were forever changed by the silver ball.My favorite part of this documentary is the Sam Harvey segment. Sam is an obsessive pinball collector. He has been this way ever since he was a child, amassing a collection of old style pinball machines, backboards, thousands of spare parts and even keeps a collection of scorecards and advertisement cards for some of his favorite machines. Admittedly Sam does come off as the eccentric hoarder who lives a life with nothing to show of it other than his favorite hobby of collection pinball material. But even though it may come off as creepy that such a person could be so enamored with pinball it also shows a love for a time gone by, a yearning for a different period of time when things were simpler. By the end of the film you feel just like the interviewees sad that the rise of the video game era and internet has all but destroyed the legacy that pinball had. But the day may come when pinball could return to the mainstream when people get tired of their Xbox's and leave Youtube for a piece of history that dominated pop culture and took in a hell of a lot of quarters.

I assume that the folks who made this documentary about pinball machines and the players did so with every intention that they were celebrating the industry. However, as I watched, my reaction was far different--I felt a bit disturbed. That's because many of the people featured in the film seemed to have very limited social skills. Their lives were the game. And, it seemed to me as I watched that the pinball games were, in some cases, replacements for intimacy and a substitute for sex. So, as I heard some of these folks make outrageous statements about how 'pinball is a sport' and 'we are athletes'....I just kept thinking that I was watching an episode of "Big Bang Theory". And, the overall effect just seemed rather sad--such as the one pinball champion who had no job yet spent an average of four hours a day playing. Sad...very sad. So, from a socio-psychological point of view, the film is well worth seeing and is engaging.By the way, if you watch "Special When Lit" and enjoyed it, try watching "The King of Kong"--a fascinating film about the insane quest to obtain the world's record for Donkey Kong.

I've never been into pinball and I'm still not.For me they're just the Jurassic Park machine in some grey shopping mall arcade that no one could be bothered to master. They're the grease-covered Adam's Family machine we hammered and screamed at in an all-night burger bar on the outskirts of our neighbourhood, back when my friends were just learning to drive.For me, they were a passing amusement, archaic and somewhat ridiculous, impossible to play and far too eager to swallow what little money you had in your pocket.What has changed however, after watching Special When Lit, is the level of respect I have for the culture.Like many other great documentaries, what SWL offers you is an insight into something that is present in your life, but never fully appreciated, in an entertaining and lightly informative manner.Apart from tugging on the obvious nostalgia heart-strings, the film places pinball as an icon - a monolithic machine for disseminating American pop culture to adolescent males all over the world - embracing the design, art and spectacle of the medium from head to toe.It's a gem of a film, well executed and beautifully illustrated, and I agree that it could have looked at the concept being enjoyed in other formats, such as digital versions of the game, but I think it would've probably been quite unnecessary.Afterall, the physicality of pinball is what it's all about. A pinball machine has a presence. It's a dominating piece of furniture; it's big and brash, screaming out to you in blasts of colour, light and sound - pretty much everything American in a box. Arcades, although undeniably odd and misanthropic, were interesting social hubs, the machines being something that you, your friends and rivals could crowd around and enjoy together. It's not quite the same playing alone on your mobile phone.The game itself is something that can never truly be replicated in another form. It's largely unpredictable, being little more than controlled chaos (much like making a documentary). It's kinetic. It's satisfying. Just ask yourself why people still visit casinos instead of everyone throwing it all away online. Or any of us leave the house anymore. It's just not the same.Love or hate pinball, SWL certainly does its subject justice: it's respectful of its subjects, celebrating (and chuckling) at their quirks, passions and eccentricities. And, most importantly, it's entertaining! Pinball, like many wonderful things, might not be as popular as it once was, but it's films like this that educate, inspire and ensure they live on in the hearts of others. So it still might not be a niche or cult that I'm a member of but I'm glad they're out there.