Talent for the Game

The movie will satisfy baseball fans: the imagery is nice, the acting is good (especially by Olmos), and the baseball scenes are well done.

The main issues are that the movie is predictable, with tons of cliches (eg evil baseball team owners); certain parts are layered with unrealistic or downright impossible details (eg a pitcher with no professional baseball experience just jumps into the major leagues; and the movie leaves some areas undeveloped (like the lead character's baseball past). It's an OK movie, but not excellent.

I read everyone's reviews and they were all pretty accurate. Each person will take something different from this movie. If you ever wanted to be a pro ball player you might relate more to Virgil's character and desires. Overall I gave it a strong numeric rating due to Olmos' unsung performance and Bracco's. Traditionally this is the basically a repeated story but the twist in this is the scout's desire to essentially play one time in the majors and feel the glow of the experience. That is a bit of a different perspective than what has been utilized in the past. The rest of the story and supporting cast are just that, supporting. But they do it well to make a rather enjoyable film. I would certainly put it in my top ten of baseball related movies with a strong human element intertwined throughout the storyline.

Enjoy.

This movie is really low key throughout, slow with interesting characters (with the exception of the billionaire owner). Olmos steals the show as the scout, and Bracco is just wonderful as his significant other.

I found the movie compelling and captivating, more about character development than plot, and subtly and richly portrayed by the two most important members of the cast, Olmos and Bracco.

The climactic game and the ending are a bit disappointing, but still this movie ranks among my favorite sports films. One thing that really helps the movie is that Corbett has a believable motion and throws reasonably hard. The baseball scenes are pretty good. in large part because some of them were shot at actual big-league games and spliced in. That's better than having bad actors trying to play ball, I think.

What stood out for me was the first half of the film, which has collected a number of apocryphal baseball scouting stories (read "Prophet of the Sandlots" and "Dollar Sign on the Muscle" where some of them appear in print). Edward James Olmos is quietly effective as veteran scout Virgil Sweet, traveling across the country evaluating prospects in an assortment of the usual and unusual places. But the story becomes formulaic as Sweet finds the Holy Grail of scouting: a heretofore unknown pitcher with all the tools to become a superstar in the big leagues. Although Sweet is employed by the Anaheim Angels, the ending is all Hollywood. While not in the pantheon of great baseball movies, it is an enjoyable way to spend 90 minutes.

Do not understand baseball. This is a gem. Yes the scenario where Sammy is exploited by the major lague team owner is a bit hokey - but.....don't let that ruin the great job that this movie does of capturing the feel of minor league baseball and the struggle, even the most talented have, to make it to the big leagues and succeed. And the longing of Virgil to catch a major league pitcher is conveyed perfectly by Edward James Almos - anyone who has the longing to play baseball but not quite enough talent will get the lump in their throat. Much the same as another flawed but good baseball movie - the Rookie.