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‘Facing Nolan’: Nolan Ryan documentary to make wide-release debut at Globe Life Field on May 1

Fans who purchase tickets for the game that day can also participate in a Q&A with Ryan.

Nolan Ryan is returning to Arlington.

And he’s going to be bigger than ever. Along with the release of their reconfigured schedule, the Rangers on Wednesday announced they would host the first major public screening of a 105-minute documentary about the life and pitching career of the Texas legend. The film, which debuted at SXSW, will be shown following the Sunday, May 1 game against Atlanta. It is 31st anniversary of Ryan’s seventh and final no-hitter. Game time is 1:35 p.m.

The film will also be shown in theaters nationwide only on May 24.

Ryan, who along with his sons is credited as an executive producer on the project, will be on hand for a postgame Q&A with fans who hold tickets for the game. Rangers single-game tickets, with the exception of the season opener, go on sale Friday at 10 a.m.

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The documentary was hailed by Variety for its 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,” Joe Leydon wrote in the entertainment industry trade magazine. “To be sure, a few some may complain, not without just cause, that sections play more like hagiography than biography, and question whether its subject could really be such an irreproachable Mr. Nice Guy.”

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But the film portrays a fierce competitor beneath the nice guy exterior. The Variety piece also extols Ryan’s wife, Ruth, who comes across as “an invaluably level-headed and straight-talking woman who obviously deserves all the credit her husband gives her.”

A number of legendary sports figures are interviewed in the film including George Brett, Rod Carew, Roger Clemens and Randy Johnson. Also appearing: former President George W. Bush. One person not interviewed: Robin Ventura, famed for being put in a Ryan headlock in 1993. Ventura, the review notes, declined to participate.

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