I just saw it tonight at a sneak preview in Baltimore and it was great. I borrowed my best friend's husband as my date since he's into baseball and she's not. I expected it to be okay but schmaltzy and was pleasantly surprised. It never got too hokey, the humor was great and every character "popped" from the bald reporter (Larry Miller) to the bat boy who got laughs every time just by nodding his head. The grandparents were especially cute the way they picked on each other. I think my favorite part was seeing the pastor with a "doo rag" on his head as a disguise. The performances were uniformly excellent. Sean Astin was great as usual and Michael Angarano has really grown into quite the performer. Highly recommended.

It's 1990 Iowa. There are two months left in the year and girls volleyball coach Kent Stock (Sean Astin) joins legendary Norway High baseball team as an assistant under coach Jim Van Scoyoc (Powers Boothe). They win the 19th state championships in a row. The state is closing small town schools and Norway is next. Polly Hudson (Rachael Leigh Cook) is the state bureaucrat. Mitch Akers is the new kid. With overwhelming forces against the town, the principal hires Kent as the new coach to drag down the championship team as the final nail in the school's coffin.

They've jammed a lot of stuff into this movie. It's a functional sports movie up to a point. Sammy's journey becomes the most compelling and emblematic to the theme of the movie. It's surprising because he's minor character and this movie has crammed a bunch of stories plucked from generic sports movies. It's not that I approve of his climax. It should concentrate more on his fears. That would be a fitting overall theme. The movie is trying too much and trying the traditional path. It needs a better visionary take to make this special or figure out how to better implement the traditional sports movie.

No, it's not another "Bang the Drum Slowly," but like Slowly, it's an excellent baseball picture that has everything including a strong small town in Iowa, a contentious board meeting, love blossoming between two opposing forces, a memorable superintendent, and a baseball team that just wouldn't quit, even though they see their beloved high school closed to join a larger school.

The main surprise in the movie is the role of Powers Boothe, the coach who was replaced because his wife dared to start a petition drive not to close the school. After about 40 minutes of the film, he is rarely seen again. Boothe gives a restrained but compelling performance as the replaced coach of a team with 19 straight division titles.

Along with the major plot, we have a rebellious youth who is sent to live with his grandparents. Obviously, the young man finds himself through the baseball team.

Cohesiveness and town unity is what makes this film so good.