You Gotta Believe

I wasn't expecting much when I went to see this movie, based on its trailers. Yet even with those low expectations, I quickly found myself bored and disappointed. My five star rating is probably being generous. The film had poor writing, poor camerawork and editing, and overall was very predictable. When the worst parts of a baseball movie are its baseball action scenes on the diamond, there is something wrong. If you combined aspects of "The Bad News Bears" with "Facing the Giants", this film might be the result. It is certainly aimed at more of a family audience, though probably more to older elementary and middle school-aged kids, due to a serious medical topic faced.

I never knew this was a true story until I read a few reviews here. The fact it was a true story inspired me watching. The only part I knew that was true is that this was a real little league team I didn't know about the father at all.

Now the set up for this team being a bunch of bodies who were just bad at baseball, I don't know If it is true. It was nice seeing that the team came together even though honestly that just wasn't well played out in the script. It kind of just happened.

They start playoffs and they literally showed us literally literally literally nothing after their first game until they're magically in the World Series. That's a really lame script. That is really really lame.

You know I wanna see how the kids felt and acted after their first game or any other game up until the World Series. They showed us nothing.

It's only good because the story of a bunch of nobodies making the World Series and watching the effect that dad has on them is inspiring. But the script was really, really poorly played out.

It's more for older kids and adults with heavy and undeniably inspirational moments. It's about believing in something and allowing it to help carry you through something impossible. The Kelley's were a force every time they were on screen. "Robert" was endearing and honest. "Peanut" was light hearted and balanced the scenes without being too much. The boys had a sweet relationship with each other that felt very real. Luke Wilson portrayed the father as reserved and hands on without being overbearing. Very salt of the earth. The boys individually who played the ball players held their own well. They were very believable in their efforts to support and be there for the Ratliff boys at their young ages. Nothing felt frilly or dishonest. The jokes the players had on the team were cute without feeling out of place. The way the story approached life's hardest realities was refreshing and didn't overreach for what a child's reaction or understanding would be. They let there be so much room for emotions. It was raw and beautiful.

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.