The Perfect Game (2009) Reviews

• Wonderful, Inspirational, Film

  paul2295-799-4229592010-07-23

  This is an absolutely wonderful film in every respect. Don't be thrown off by the critics. They are wrong! I went away feeling that this is one of the most enjoyable films that I have ever seen. Wheras it is an excellent "family" film, it will be enjoyed by people of all ages. Bring along a tissue or two. Some of the scenes will bring forth an overwhelming emotional rush of what those boys were able to accomplish. What is so amazing is that the story is actually true. I can't believe that the release had so little publicity and is playing in so few theaters in the US. I saw it by accident. Don't miss it. It is WONDERFUL

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• 432rd Review: Excellent Inspitatonal Sports Movie - not just for kids!

  intelearts2011-06-18

  This dramatization of the 1957 World Little League Champions is just a terrific watch - sure, it is a little clichéd in places - but what sports movie isn't, but it has the same vibe as The Mighty Ducks and The Bad News Bears except that is based on a true story. All in all, baseball films are nearly always good to watch, and this is no exception - the team is fun, the story is built well, the film is nicely edited, you get a ton of baseball, and the moral compass is firmly fixed to good throughout. One of the better sports films for kids - and adults - and one that deserves a wide audience.

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• Wonderful family film

  bonimdb2010-10-08

  I went to see this movie because my daughter loves sports movies. It was completely enjoyable although a little bit clichéd. The acting was not that good but there were so many feel good moments that I could completely forgive any faults I may have found. I even clapped at the end. My daughter's friend was cheering as if he were actually at the game. What made this even more special is the knowledge that this "perfect" game actually happened and, along with the end credits, we got to see the actual players. This is a great movie for the whole family, and that in itself, is a great feat!

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• Something true, something false, something missing

  f. baez2012-01-31

  The Perfect Game is a nice, feel-good, crowd-pleasing, human values, baseball-packed movie. It is, indeed, based on a true story, but the fictional elements are so heavy and full of stereotypes, that they become a burden for the viewer and for the movie itself. The odd thing about it all is that some of the things that seem the most incredible are true. Yet still, a key character in the story -a Gringo- is left out of it. Why? Here come the spoilers. Something true. The basic line of the story is true. The 13 straight games won by the kids from Monterrey. The perfect game pitched by Àngel Macías -I watched him play as an outfielder for Poza Rica 7 years later-, some key plays. Things that may ring as an exaggeration are also true. Coach César Faz had been a bat-boy for the St.Louis Browns, the kids did cross the US- Mexico line walking in their baseball uniforms(it was a bridge, though); they ran against some racist behavior; there was an attempt to deport them in Biloxi, as their visas had expired; they were given discounts and even a free meal in local restaurants, as their legend grew; they ran out of money and depended on a fund raising effort in Monterrey; the uniforms they were offered for the final game were way too big for them; most of them were working class kids and even the relationship between coach César Faz and María is true. The little players did meet President Eisenhower and the Brooklyn Dodgers. This was more than enough to make a sound film. Something false. You don't make a baseball team in four weeks. The Liga Pequeña Industrial had been set four years prior to the championship. It was a proper Little League, with a proper field and stadium and they, of course, knew what a baseball looked like. The team had been playing together so long that they wore in 1957 the same uniform they had used in 1956 -when they beat other leagues in Monterrey-. Monterrey was an industrial city of half a million people, not a semi-rural town with a steel mill in the middle of nowhere, and baseball was the main sport played over there -in 1957 it had a strong team in the Mexican Baseball League, but not a first division soccer team-. César Faz was a US-born, after being deemed too short for MLB, decided to make a career as a manager. He coached Nuevo León State team to the National finals the year before, and was hired -nominally as a worker in FAMA machinery factory- to take the 12 year olds to the World Championship. There were 14 players, not 9, and there was no priest with them -even though it is said that they were religious children. And, at their arrival from the US, they were received by thousands of admirers both in Mexico City and in Monterrey. Something missing. One of the key men behind the Mexican kids' victory was an American, Harold "Lucky" Haskins, a former war-hero who helped fund, with his personal money, the Liga Pequeña Industrial, the working-class Little League where the champions came from. It was Haskins who gave them gloves, bats and uniforms, it was him who intervened to clear the visa problem for the children. It was him, the manager of FAMA machinery factory, who paid Faz. Why is he left out? Probably because he was a bigamist -not good for a religion oriented movie-, or probably because his intervention would prevent a couple of Hollywood clichés from appearing. Anyway, I felt it was an injustice done to a good man.

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• They've never seen real grass…The Perfect Game

  jaredmobarak2008-07-24

  The film The Perfect Game is a great story of the underdog defeating adversity at home and in public. This young team of Mexicans band together against all odds to form a Little League team in Monterey to be entered into the 1957 competition against the powerhouses of 12-year old baseball Americans. Not only must they overcome a novice at best skill at the game—helped enormously by their ex-Major League towel boy turned coach—but also the bigotry and racism of a segregated America not yet ready to see foreigners from below the southern border hand their precious kids a lesson in humility. Standing on its own, the story is quite the tale and intriguing at every turn. However, this is not a book, it is a visual medium and in that respect doesn't live up to the quality of its plot. A made-for-TV movie at best, this film is very heavy-handed and way too feel-good for anyone with a brain hoping to find something that may stimulate a cell up there in his skull. Laughable in its saccharine drenched contrivances and score's orchestral swells just begging to elicit sentimental tears, the Lifetime movie of the week quality definitely distracted this viewer, one who was intent on learning a story and seeing it all play out, not just to watch close-ups of pouting boys and cheesy smiles. Don't get me wrong, people looking for the uplifting story of success, when no one gave them a chance, will be very pleased. The amount of applause DURING the screening proves that point as viewers definitely get invested in these types of tales. For me, however, I need a little more, some real stakes that at times showed face—the coach's drunken misstep that risks deporting them all due to expired visas—but mostly just bridge us to the next heartfelt moment. Stereotypes and clichés abound leading me to tell you all to make sure you check your mind at the door; it will not be needed. I don't want to fault any of the acting, except of course Emilie de Ravin's atrocious accent that made me want to wring her neck, because it isn't bad considering the script and material. Clifton Collins Jr. is a favorite of mine and while at times is very out of his element playing off of a troupe of children, brings some of his standard brood and contemplative thinking. Used to playing psychotics, whether extreme as in Rules of Attraction or introverted as in Capote, casting him as the coach finding his heart again is a bold choice. For the most part it is a gamble that pays off. As for the rest of the cast, I was completely thrown off by the amount of familiar faces being that I truly had not even heard of the film before being given the preview pass. Stalwarts like Bruce McGill, John Cothran Jr., Frances Fisher, and Chris Mulkey all make appearances alongside Louis Gossett Jr., (talk about a blast from the past). Even David Koechner reins in his annoyance for a decent cameo that brings a couple laughs. However, the kids definitely become the heart of the tale. Head-shaking for the fact that "Heroes" star Hayden Panettiere's younger brother Jansen is playing a Mexican aside, the kids are very cute and fun to spend time with. You have your common traits for each to overcome and be friends despite of them, as well as the father/son dynamic needed to bring the heavy emotion. Unfortunately the chasm between Papa Macias and his last living son is so huge and so front and center, the inevitable reconciliation is so obvious that it loses all impact it might have had. A warning must be said as well concerning the make-up of the film. Yes, there are many montages and time lapses to save time, however, you experience a ton of baseball. Whether an inning or abridged games in their entirety, director William Dear shows a little piece of each stop to the championship. The cuts are quick and often, so I wouldn't be surprised if much of the actual baseball action was faked, but they do their job to portray what was being done. A family film from start to finish, I was the least bit surprised to find that Dear also helmed Angels in the Outfield. More life-affirming tale then sports flick, don't be afraid to take your young ones to a movie even though it stars Cheech Marin. Long gone are his Cheech and Chong days, playing the priest that starts the seed of baseball in the small Mexican town, Marin brings some subtle chuckles, but mostly plays the rock opposite Collins Jr.'s conflicted hero. Never surprising at any moment, The Perfect Game may not be brilliance at the movies, but for what it is, you could do much worse than partake in a courageous true story while sitting through the candy-coated exuberance of it all.

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