You Gotta Believe

Looking for something to see, I was intrigued by the premise of misfit little leaguers. Could this be an updated The Bad News Bears?

Nope. It's a whitewashed family film scrubbed of any edge, predictable beyond belief, and boring.

It was hard to find what the appeal would be for either adults of children.

This a true story that is supposed to be inspiring but instead is a poor tribute to the brave coach the film is honoring.

Greg Kinnear looks bored and tired. Luke Wilson fares better but the sappy script lets him down. The kids make little impression. The film builds no tension and you basically know how it will end after the first 20 minutes.

The film is also weirdly lit, and poorly edited.

I was the only one in the theater on the opening night preview. When a film opens quietly with almost no marketing, there is a reason.

This movie was lovely and you could tell it was true as no hollywood fluff was added. We need small Movies like this to have balance and not just blockbusters. I liked all the kids and the main actors were totally real. The moral is what we all teach our children so seeing people Live it touches the heart. Every family should want to see this film. I recommend it. Not a bad news bear which was all fake. Just a Good movie. Good storytelling and real people with real feelings. These movies will go away and we will only see blockbusters or crude or horror films if we don't support the family films.

I'm not a baseball fan, but am a fan of inspirational movies based on true stories and this movie fills the bill. I thought the acting was incredible and the story touched my soul. Of course, it won't win any awards because only weird themes seem to garner that kind of attention these days but you will be thinking and smiling about You Gotta Believe long after its run at the box office. I am seeing YGB for a second time today. I hope the writer will continue finding worthwhile topics to bring to the screen. He seems to have the knack of making a sad situation into a "feel good" outcome. I've always been a fan of Greg Kinnear and think he was perfect for the role he played. More Lane Garrison/Greg Kinnear movies, please!!!

6.8 stars.

This is the story of a coach and his best friend coaching a team of little leaguers in Texas. They are about the worst team around. The coach gets sick. The kids get inspired, they drastically improve and make it to the 2002 Little League World Series. It's quite an inspiring story albeit somewhat misleading.

The film portrays the boys as scrawny, weak and terrible players, but if you look at some of the actual footage, they were average to above average sized, and actually quite good. This is not a bad news bears story. I think the Director wanted to make it appear that way to make the impression of them being underdogs. This is for obvious reasons in the movie biz.

This film is slightly inspired, but only average for entertainment and impact.

It won't mean the same to those that haven't experienced this in real life but obviously those who actually lived this story I appreciate you sharing this and I'm inspired to play on as I continue to believe and play the game almost 60 years after my little league all star dreams.

Many a championship since then but the confluence of my father's influence and the joy of coaching my son have etched an enormously important memory in my life.

So they won't let me get away without commenting on the movie itself. Luke, Greg, Sarah and all the kids give outstanding performances. The on field action is realistic enough to relate.