Review: The Perfect Game
Posted April 30, 2010 12:13 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The Perfect Game is a badly written and directed predictable farce of a baseball movie, yet the true story it’s based on is so inspirational that it’s hard to totally knock it.
After being fired as the St. Louis Cardinals “towel boy”, Cesar (Clifton Collins Jr.), heads back to his hometown of Monterrey, Mexico to work in the steel mill. A year later and he is persuaded to coach the newly-formed little league baseball team that Padre Estaban (Cheech Marin) has been organizing. The team has four weeks to get into shape before heading to America to play in the tournament. Of course it all works out; not only do they not lose one game, but they go on to win the series. Big surprise.
The film worked best in the moments where Cesar and the boys have to get over the prejudice bestowed upon them, and other races, in the 1950s-era setting. For instance, in one scene a Mexican player is turned away from using a public washroom because it’s for “whites only”. In another scene a rival team won’t sit with their African-American teammate. There’s also a female reporter, played by Emile de Ravin, that must have been added solely to show that it wasn’t just different races who were treated poorly in those days, but women were too. Unfortunately, these scenes are quickly brushed over because this is a feel-good movie dumbed down for a young audience — showing how racist and cruel people can be doesn’t bode well.
Collins Jr. has done some good work in the past (I especially liked him in last year’s Sunshine Cleaning), but here it looked like he didn’t know what direction the movie was going in half the time. Some moments he’s too serious and in others it feels like he’s channeling Coach Buttermaker from The Bad News Bears. Cheech should never be allowed to play a member of the church either as it’s a horrible role for him and I had to laugh whenever he was on-screen.
Director William Dear was responsible for two previous baseball movies — the 2007 straight-to-video sequel to The Sandlot, The Sandlot 3: Heading Home, and the 1994 remake of Angels in the Outfield. Both were failures for many reasons and are barely remembered these days. Dear has made at least one good film in his career and that was 1987’s Harry and the Hendersons. Maybe he needs to stick with giant animal comedies and leave the baseball flicks to Kevin Costner.
Clocking in at close to two hours, it’s hard to say if the demographic (11-15 year-old boys) will appreciate The Perfect Game. My recommendation is to stay home and watch The Sandlot, The Bad News Bears, or even Rookie of the Year instead.
** out of 5 stars
Rated PG
Cast: Clifton Collins Jr., Cheech Marin
Directed by: William Dear
Official Site IMDb
brian.mckechnie@citynews.rogers.com
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Top image: A scene from The Perfect Game. Courtesy Anchor Bay Entertainment.
