Brampton's Own

I thought this movie was very satisfying. Even though it focuses on a minor league baseball player returning to his hometown, I think anyone who has left their hometown for a long time for any reason will connect with this movie. While Dustin and I didn't leave our towns for even remotely similar reasons (I suck at baseball), that feeling of being an outsider in the place where you grew up is one I've felt a lot returning home. Credit to director/writer Michael Doneger for capturing that feeling perfectly. Great movie.

Being a big baseball fan, I was drawn to Brampton's Own through the main character's dream and goal of become a major-league player. The film follows the almost 30 year old Dustin who is an AAA baseball player for a team that feeds into the Seattle Mariners. He decides that after 12 years of trying to make the majors to give up his dream and move back to his hometown to pursue another dream, his high school sweetheart. Dustin is welcomed by his family when returning home but he realizes when being home that he still loves and misses the game of baseball. Dustin must decide if he should pursuit the game he loves or the girl next door. What I enjoyed most about the film was the humor, I found myself laughing aloud many times at Dustin's relationship with a young boy he befriends when returning home. The story is fun and nostalgic, being an entertaining sports movie that left me pleased.

No spoilers here, but I thought it was going to be a sweet Rom-Com kind of thing. NAH. Not a 'happy' film.

I am a complete sucker for baseball movies, even the bad ones! A washed up Triple A catcher returns to his boyhood town not knowing his future. Unoriginal, but i'll give it a try, or so I thought. I like movies that throw me a curve ball and this one did. Won't win any awards but very watchable.

Why surprising, you ask? I don't know. Maybe just because I wasn't familiar with either of the lead actors, and the poster art was just alright, and it's on Netflix. So I went in with low expectations. But here's the thing: This movie is funny, it's grounded in realism, athletes will appreciate it, and you will feel the "love story" at its core.