Ping Pong

Sports movies are rarely about the sports themselves. It’s the fuel that fires the competitors that gets most of the attention. Take Fumihiko Sori’s energetic table tennis film, Ping Pong, which uses all the trick shots and techniques involved in keeping a 1.6-inch ball on top of a 9-foot table as window-dressing for the story of two best friends whose approaches to the sport – and to life – couldn’t be more different.

“Peco” Hoshino is a brashly overconfident hustler with raw skill but no discipline. “Smile” Tsukimoto is a misanthropic outsider with natural talent but no drive. Their bond as childhood friends gets complicated when an interurban tournament finds Tsukimoto casually rising to the top while Peco’s dreams seem to be swirling down the drain. As the competition heats up, the two find themselves settling into new roles to take on the star players from rival schools while struggling to come to terms with their own relationship.

That summary might make Ping Pong sound like a mopey character study in the vein of A24’s recent Marty Supreme. It’s not. Based on a popular manga, Sori’s film is as vibrant and lively as a comic-book panel, full of attention-getting visuals and unobtrusive CGI that makes every match seem like something out of Dragonball Z. Each match is a thrilling bit of cinematic virtuosity held together but a cast of eccentric good guys, bad guys and hangers-on. It’s Yosuke Kubozuka’s performance as Peco, however, that elevates the material from “interesting” to straight-up “compelling.” Like Tom Cruise’s arrogant pool hustler in The Color of Money, he’s not just a scene-stealer, he’s the film’s best visual effect.

88 Films gets a massive pat on the back for putting this one out there to be discovered on Blu-ray. Extras include a stills gallery, trailer, new artwork and limited-edition obi-strip cover.

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