57
Metascore
20 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 88Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertChicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertLike Free Willy, The Secret Garden, Searching for Bobby Fischer and The Man in the Moon, this is a "family movie" that doesn't condescend. It takes its 12-year-old hero as seriously as he takes baseball, and nothing is "dumbed down" for the PG audience.
- 83Entertainment WeeklyEntertainment WeeklyFilled with baseball lore, trivia, and cameos by major-league players, this fable covers its bases with sincerity and humor.
- 75TV Guide MagazineTV Guide MagazineFor once in a kids' sports picture, the child actors don't grate or get sticky, and the adults aren't crotch-grabbing, swaggering, overgrown delinquents. More important, Little Big League makes some very nice emotional points along the way to a satisfying end, suggesting that America's rocky romance with baseball is alive and well.
- 67Austin ChronicleMarc SavlovAustin ChronicleMarc SavlovIt's not the greatest movie about baseball ever made (and I'll keep my mouth shut on that one if I know what's good for me), but it's not the worst, either. Like the game itself, it's pretty darn fun.
- 60The New York TimesStephen HoldenThe New York TimesStephen HoldenThe scenes on the ballfield have a credibility that is unusual in a baseball film. Adding to the realism are the appearances of a number of major league players as the Twins' opponents. The glow and cleancut innocence of these scenes evokes the magic of the game as seen through the eyes of a youthful fan.
- 60Time OutTime OutScheinman is so keen to pile on the moral precepts, that the proceedings never really take on an imaginative life of their own. The film does, however, avoid tub-thumping triumphalism and manages better than most Hollywood sports movies to integrate its roster of real-life players within the contrivances of the storyline.
- 50ReelViewsJames BerardinelliReelViewsJames BerardinelliThis film never believably captures the sport it portrays, and that leads to a picture that's closer to a strikeout than a home run.
- 40Washington PostRita KempleyWashington PostRita KempleyThe ballplayers themselves are a well-drawn, enjoyably kooky bunch, but it's absolutely impossible to believe that they would accept Billy's leadership. (If you believe this premise, then you probably believe Marge Schott doesn't look like a Saint Bernard.) And of all the child actors in the movie, the scrawny 13-year-old star shows the least presence.