I wish I could rate this movie better than a 6. The cinematography is beautiful, the acting is competent, the story is true. The baseball scenes are exciting, which makes the second half of the movie quite good. Unfortunately, the first half suffers from a mediocre script and glacial pacing.
The movie didn't need the romantic subplots (any of them). It really didn't need the wayward teenager sent to live with the farmer grandparents either. Rachel Leigh Cook's character lacks credibility in her romantic interest in the young assistant coach and in her career about-face.
It's a good baseball movie. It's also a good movie about small town values and how a winning high school sports team can energize a town that is hanging on by its teeth. Once you get past the plodding pace of the first half, it is a worthy entry in the genre of under dog sports movies.
The movie didn't need the romantic subplots (any of them). It really didn't need the wayward teenager sent to live with the farmer grandparents either. Rachel Leigh Cook's character lacks credibility in her romantic interest in the young assistant coach and in her career about-face.
It's a good baseball movie. It's also a good movie about small town values and how a winning high school sports team can energize a town that is hanging on by its teeth. Once you get past the plodding pace of the first half, it is a worthy entry in the genre of under dog sports movies.