Growing up impoverished in small town Texas, young Rickey Hill (Jesse Berry) shows an extraordinary ability for hitting a baseball, despite being burdened by leg braces from a degenerative spinal disease. His stern father, Pastor James Hill (Dennis Quaid) discourages Rickey from playing baseball to protect him from injury, and to have him follow in his footsteps and become a preacher. As a young man, Rickey (Colin Ford) becomes a baseball phenomenon, and his desire to participate in a tryout for a legendary major league scout, Red Murff (Scott Glenn) divides the family and threatens Rickey's dream of playing professional baseball. His girlfriend, Gracie (Siena Bjornerud), when it's all said and done, seems to be Rickey biggest cheerleader. Will he make the grade?
Others to round out the cast are Joelle Carter as Helen Hill, Rickey's mother, Bonnie Bedelia as Gram Lily, Randy Houser as Ray Clemons, Ryan Dinning as Robert Hill, Rickey's brother, Carina Worm as Connie Hill, Rickey's sister, Mason Gillett as young Robert and Tyler Johnson as Quinn.
This was directed with as much pathos as there was emotion by Jeff Celentano ("Under the Hula Moon" '95, "Gunshy" '98, "Primary Suspect" 2000, "Moscow Heat" '04, "Say It in Russian" '07, "Breaking Point" '09, "Glass Jaw" '18) plus shorts. His ability to showcase how he is able to extract the most effective emotions out of his actors is amazing. He hasn't directed as many films as one might think considering he's been a filmmaker since 1995, but it is obviously because he chooses the projects he works on carefully. It was effectively written by Angelo Pizzo ("Hoosiers" '86, "Rudy" '93, "The Game of Their Lives" '05, "My All-American" '15, "Bleed for This" (story) '16) plus TV and Scott Marshall Smith ("Men of Honor" 2000, "The Score" '01, "When the Game Stands Tall" '14, "Camera Store" '17), based on other treatment of story by Bill Chaffin. As with other films, this was treated as a flashback in 1975, with Rickey in his uniform at his infamous tryout. He's contemplating thinking about the past. His childhood upbringing goes back to the 1960s showing his life with his family and when he was on braces because of his degenerative spinal disease. This athlete not only came from impoverished conditions, but striving to become more that he was told he only would ever be--a baseball player not being one of them, it's amazing that he survived. What truly got him through was his faith and his family. There were a couple of places in the script that deemed a bit slow and choppy, but it didn't hinder at all what was being conveyed to the audience. If you haven't noticed from reading his resume, Angelo Pizzo is a sports film writer. At one point in his career, he felt he was getting pigeon-holed in writing these types of films, but, after a while, he wrapped his head around it and kept doing what he does best. I feel, if you like your work--in this case, subject matter--why change it, especially if you are talented. Unfortunately, this was the other writer's Scott Marshall Smith's last film considering his death. The film was dedicated to his memory.
If you like films about sports, or more pointed, about baseball, you'll love this, however, I'm not a huge fan of the sport, I was still glued to the screen. This is the quintessential underdog film where this hopeful baseball player should've never gotten his chance, but with faith, family, friends and determination, it happened, and does so for so many other things one strives for in life.
Out of 4 Stars: 3.5 Rated: PG-13 126mins.
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