The Hill

This movie will take you back in time and pull at your heartstrings the whole time. I thought this movie was so well acted and directed. Love movies that are based on real life events. It makes it much more relatable. I also saw Gran Tarismo which ironically had similar themes, young men chasing dreams that are seemingly impossible and without the needed support of their fathers. While Gran Turismo was a fantastic action movie and a lot of fun to watch, it lacked the spiritual element of The Hill. And dreams die eventually, and what are we left with? The character of Ricky Hill to me was the driving force and the lovable part of this film. The way he respects and wants to honor his dad and their beliefs is so touching and rare. That's what I loved about this film.

The Hill hits home (no pun intended) if you grew up in a smaller town. Growing up in the bible belt, I understand that strict, moral parental values are hard to let go of when children want to walk a different path in life.

Rickey Hill and his Father rarely see eye to eye - the conflict of baseball, faith, and their relationship can't seem to coexist. Rickey see's his skills at bat as a gift while his father sees it as a surefire way that he will be crippled forever. It's tough love verses stubbornness on his father's behalf as Rickey time and time again proves that he can fulfill his dream.

It's a rarity these days that we see such a gritty & real father/son relationship on screen and from the first scene, you're rooting for the two to salvage a bond together. Dennis Quaid and Colin Ford have great chemistry and you really believe their father and son dynamic. The child actors playing the younger version of the characters did a great job as well and the time period (late 60s/early 70s) makes for a perfect, All-American setting.

"October Sky" meets "The Natural". A winning baseball movie for the whole family.

I thought I would like it since it has Dennis Quaid. I actually loved the movie. It's so refreshing to see a realistic movie with good actors and no CG. I thought the story line was interesting and I didn't even realize the movie was over two hours! I'm not usually in for a long movie but this one kept my interest. I just really like Dennis Quaid is this type of role. He was excellent and all the actors were great in their roles. If a movie is going to have a sport in the background I prefer it to be baseball because that's the only sport I like at all. I just loved the character "'Red" and whoever played him was so entertaining. Im 55 and that's how I remember old men acting and comporting themselves when I was a child in the 70s. I enjoyed that the historical setting was quite accurate. I saw some things that were off a little but overall it was excellent.

The trailer showed us a corny Christian themed baseball movies and that's what we got. The story is uplifting, and the movie proves we can have family friendly films. I definitely thought they could have cut it down by 20 minutes, but I still enjoyed it.

I don't think you have to be a Christian to like the movie since they don't demand any beliefs from the audience. It is probably aimed at that crowd though. If you love baseball, ever had to overcome something, or can just feel inspired by Rickey's story then this film is for you.

It's great for the entire family.

It's definitely a very white film. I say this as a white person. I don't think the black characters were portrayed in a bad light, but they were only there to support the white characters. All two of them with lines. This is based on a true story in Texas from the 60's and 70's though, so it might have been this way.

It was also good to see them capture the time and family well, without putting full on child abuse on the screen. We were told enough.

Prepare for a preachy dose of diabetic coma, but the movie is quite watchable. I think it was unintentional, but it also tells the story of his hypocrite father. Dad had no qualms in following his calling to the detriment of his family but did all he could to deny that opportunity to his son. It's always enjoyable to see the story of someone I never knew existed, and this guy was in that category. The movie could have done with a little more salt and less sugar, as it lands right in the genre of a "Hallmark Christmas movie". But if Rickey Hill had as much input as I've read, then I guess that's what he wanted.