THE PERFECT GAME (William Dear). 118 minutes. Opens Friday (April 30). For venues, trailers and times, see Movies. Rating: N
The Perfect Game is the sort of movie conservatives are talking about when they say Hollywood doesn’t know how to make wholesome family films. What that really means is, they’ll accept the blandest, most condescending hokum, so long as nobody curses.[rssbreak]
It’s based on the uplifting true story of a Mexican Little League team that went all the way to the championships in 1957 – a triumph for spunky urchins everywhere, and for their coach, bitter Cesar Faz (a slumming Clifton Collins Jr.).
William Dear, who made Harry And The Hendersons and the 1994 remake of Angels In The Outfield, bathes everything in nostalgic bronze hues and loads the soundtrack with inspirational pop songs. But you’d have to be six years old not to see every single beat coming from a mile away – or to swallow ludicrous scenes where our wide-eyed heroes overcome racial segregation with their simple hearts and inclusive spirit.
If you absolutely, positively must see a baseball movie this week, rent The Sandlot again.
