Pinball: The Man Who Saved the Game

Anyone interested in gaming history will find a lot to enjoy here; and the general niceness helps make what is essentially a fun 15-minute anecdote tolerable for 90.

"Pinball: The Man Who Saved the Game" is strictly low stakes. This is part of its knowing charm.

I’d recommend not scrutinizing “Pinball: The Man Who Saved the Game” too closely or too promptly, and simply savoring the unusual spectrum of artistic virtues that I found myself admiring—and admiring again, on a second viewing, purely for pleasure.

The movie strives for a knowing, amiable tone. It achieves a cutesy, slight one instead.

... So damn delightful – it’s surprisingly witty, with an easygoing vibe, endearing characters and moderate, but never overbearing period nostalgia.

Pinball: The Man Who Saved the Game exemplifies the meaning of life in a way that higher profile, big-budget films should only aspire to.

Pinball won’t be among your standard biopics but rather a favorably low-key portrait whose well-oiled mechanisms intend to divert as much as inform.

With both Mike Faist and Crystal Reed exuding chemistry and enthusiasm, you will want to get some pocket change and pull the plunger on your own pinball cabinet.

The writer-directors, brothers Austin and Meredith Bragg, have turned what might have been a dry libertarian tale of a little guy facing down the power of the state into a love story of real warmth and charm.

Just what the pinball tribe needs, and offers a whole lot for feel-good indie fans, too.