Facing Nolan, a new documentary about Hall of Fame pitcher and Texas legend Nolan Ryan will screen at theaters nationwide for one night only on May 24.
Before the nationwide screening, the Texas Rangers will host the first major public showing of the 105-minute documentary on Sunday, May 1, the anniversary of Ryan’s seventh and final no-hitter. The viewing will commence following the Rangers’ 1:35 p.m. game against the Atlanta Braves and a Q&A session with Ryan and Rangers public address announcer Chuck Morgan.
Facing Nolan delves into the 27-season career of Ryan, who still holds the MLB record of seven no-hitters. It includes interviews with other baseball legends, including Cal Ripken Jr., Roger Clemens, Pudge Rodriguez, Pete Rose, George Brett, Rod Carew, and Randy Johnson.
It also features interviews with former President George W. Bush and Nolan Ryan himself, his wife of 55 years, Ruth, and others.
One person not interviewed for the film is Robin Ventura, who famously charged the mound after Ryan hit him with a pitch during a game in 1993. Despite being 20 years older than Ventura, Ryan responded by putting him in a headlock and delivering several punches, leading to a benches-clearing brawl. Ventura declined to participate in an interview.
The film’s director is Bradley Jackson, and the producer is Russell Groves, both Texas natives.
“When you look at [Ryan], he does seem like a tall tale,” Jackson told The Dallas Morning News. “A guy from a tiny town, with no pitching coach and kind of out of nowhere. I wanted to lean into that. It’s almost an antidote to some of the stories in sports we’ve seen of guys who have achieved greatness, but only at extreme cost.”
“There is another story out there where guys stick to their values and the good guys end up winning,” Jackson added. “It feels nice to have an optimistic and uncomplicated story.”
The film features extensive footage of Ryan on the diamond, but it primarily relies on the interviews with teammates, opponents, and friends to tell his story.
A trailer released for the upcoming film is available on YouTube.
Jackson did not want to rely too heavily on Ryan discussing his career. They initially agreed to only two sit-down interviews for the project to not overburden Ryan, who turned 75 years old in January. However, there ended up being many more sitdowns.
“When you asked him about his seventh no-hitter, he’d talk about how his back was bothering him and how he’d just worked it out,” Jackson said. “But then you ask him about his kids or grandkids, and he just lit up. He just comes across as a very down-home guy. He had an extreme gift, and he achieved the highest of highs, and he stayed the same guy.”
The documentary, also executive produced by Ryan and his sons Reid and Reese, debuted earlier this year at SXSW to immensely positive reviews. Currently, it boasts an impressive 100% score on the film review website, Rotten Tomatoes.
Joe Leydon of the entertainment industry magazine Variety described the film as a portrayal of an “engaging nice guy who you wouldn’t want to cross.”
“Indeed, even viewers without a love for the game could be engrossed and entertained by [director Bradley] Jackson’s celebratory film,” Leydon wrote. “If Nolan Ryan had never existed, Facing Nolan strongly suggests no screenwriter would ever get away with making him up.”
Leydon also praised Ryan’s wife, Ruth, who he described as “an invaluably level-headed and straight-talking woman who obviously deserves all the credit her husband gives her.”
The documentary touches on one point in Ryan’s career in which he was ready to quit the game, but Ruth talked him out of it.
“There was a point where she said, ‘I never thought any of this would happen to us; I just wanted to be with him,’” Jackson said. “It would be easy to make this a male-dominated movie. Ruth made it a richer, more well-grounded picture. She’s just really proud of him.”
“I think the Variety review called it a crowd-pleaser,” said Jackson. “And that’s what we want. Nolan always was a crowd-pleaser.”
