Screwball

A rogue Miami anti-aging clinic, a desperate MLB superstar, and a cast of hustlers, addicts, and con men collide in the wildly entertaining true story behind the steroid scandal that nearly brought down America's national pastime.

Year — 2018▶ Watch trailer

§ Synopsis

Recounting the high-profile doping scandal that rocked Major League Baseball, director Billy Corben (Cocaine Cowboys) 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 or 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.

§ TrailerScrewball

§ Critics Say10 clips

A mash-up of the Coen Brothers, Carl Hiaasen and Elmore Leonard by way of 'Drunk History'
Chicago TribunePhil Rosenthal
Directed with the same brand of playful comedic electricity that marked Cocaine Cowboys
The Daily BeastNick Schager
A saga populated by the tanned and tarnished, the crooked and cock-eyed…a prideful slab of snark, about Florida, its usual suspects, and the glittering allure of fraud…a Coens-meet-Hiaasen-style romp
TheWrapRobert Abele
Equal parts documentary and dramedy, it's fun, strange, colorful, and generally too absurd to be believed…a hilarious and delightful send-up
The RingerClaire McNear
A must for fans of true-crime documentaries — as well as movies about cocky crooks getting comeuppances
Los Angeles TimesMichael Rechtshaffen
Fascinating as an examination of how carefully one needs to choose their allies, especially when they're committing crimes
RogerEbert.comBrian Tallerico
A real-life Elmore Leonard tale of interwoven underworld rivalries, where everyone is as corrupt as they are inept…No one tells a woolly tale of Floridian criminality, corruption, and ineptitude like Billy Corben, and Screwball is another classic. An insane masterpiece of Floridiana
UproxxVince Mancini
I'm not sure the filmmakers set out to make a baseball movie that explains America—but they did…. The Florida-born Corben and producer Alfred Spellman were behind 'Cocaine Cowboys,' the 2006 documentary about the Miami drug trade in the 70s and 80s, and as in that film, 'Screwball' has an undercurrent of love for the Sunshine State's rich tradition of start-over hustlers and 'gray market' economies.
The Wall Street JournalJason Gay
It's the ultimate 'Florida Man' story
The Detroit NewsAdam Graham
Hilarious and eye-opening… A truly original home run in documentary storytelling
POV MagazinePat Mullen
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