“You Gotta Believe”

Rating: 7/10

Director: Ty Roberts

Writer: Lane Garrison

Style: Family Sports

Time: 1 hour, 44 minutes

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0r_nbHSOyDE

Review by Mike Szymanski

Funny, poignant, charming and delightful in every way, “You Gotta Believe” is more than a kid’s baseball movie — it’s a feel-good family film for everyone of every age. It may have moments that remind you of “The Bad News Bears” or “The Sandlot,” but it’s definitely in a League of Its Own (and the pun is indeed intended).

The reason is that this is not just any baseball movie about a guy dreaming of a field. It’s a true story about a coach who was a favorite Dad among his little league ball players who becomes stricken with a form of advanced melanoma and is given a short time to live.

This movie sort of sneaks up on you, as it did in the theaters. There was no buzz about it, hardly any trailers shown, and opened on Labor Day weekend without much fanfare. Hopefully, audience word-of-mouth will create the buzz to see it on the big screen, where it is meant to be seen.

The director Ty Roberts previously did “12 Mighty Orphans” a wonderful film I’ve reviewed in the past: (see https://medium.com/@mikeszythewriter/12-mighty-orphans-offers-a-story-of-hope-during-tough-times-movie-review-8dd7d6fd5fa3

Luke Wilson (brother of Owen, but a staple of playing a great guy, and now a great Dad in meaningful films) plays the dad Bobby Ratliff, who finds out rather quickly in the film that he doesn’t have much time to live. As much as the family tries to keep it a secret among themselves, the team finds out and figures out how to deal with it in a positive way. They want to make it their mission to play for the sick Dad, and somehow even connect their success as a way to keep him alive.

Jon Kelly is best friends with the Dad, and he’s played by Greg Kinnear, who we’ve seen in “Friends” and “Modern Family” in significant roles, but I remember him as one of the funniest hosts of “Talk Soup” before he became an actor. Kinnear, you may not know, was nominated for an Academy Award playing an incredible supporting actor role as a gay man in the film “As Good As it Gets” with Helen Hunt and Jack Nicholson (who both won Oscars for their performances).

Kinnear’s character of Kelly is particularly poignant because he doesn’t want to coach the team, and thinks that the dying Dad is the better coach. His son, Walker (played by Etienne Kellici) is a good pitcher but doesn’t have control.

Actually, all the youthful actors in this film re notable, with the catcher Mikey played by Jacob Mazeral who is afraid of the ball, and Scooter played by Nicholas Fry who is a better batter without his glasses on, and outfielder Mark (Scott MacKenzie) who has eyes for Scooter’s sister played by Ashley Emerson.

The music is melodramatic, with trumpets like the “Bad News Bears” and the kid who was a big player in “Sandlot” Patrick Renna has a role in this movie, too. So, there is some nostalgia in the movie, but it is very much a film of it’s own.

Luke Wilson’s character questions “Why is this happening to me?” and has frank discussions with his sons, and wife.

“Are you going to die?” they ask. He answers, “No, but my body is going to change. Cancer is hurting my body, and making me weak and not be able to do what I was able to do before.”

The story takes place in Fort Worth, Texas, and the location is as much a character as any of the players. It’s a sort-of small town where everyone seems to know everyone else’s business.

This is an improbable story during the 2002 Little League World Series, and this area never went as far in the games.

In real life, in 2007, the Ratliff family started a nonprofit foundation called You Gotta Believe that organizes youth baseball and football camps in honor of their father.

“We’ve had over 3,500 kids come through the organization over the last 17-ish years,” the real-life son Robert Ratliff, said. “So we’ve had a lot of fun with it, trying to continue our father’s legacy. … We use football and baseball to get the kids out there, but we want to make sure they hear the message of God while there.”

The story is realistic, and it’s not changed to make things more rosy or palatable. Not everything goes right, and it’s easy to find the true story online.

The conversations between the father and sons are priceless, even with seemingly simple discussions like the best ball player ever — Satchel Paige, according to the Dad, partly because of everything he had to overcome as a black player, too.

The two wives of the main characters are exceptional coach wives. Sarah Gadon plays Patti Ratliff, who deals more inwardly about the possible loss of her husband. The exceptional actress Molly Parker plays Jon Kelly’s wife. You’ve seen her in three David Cronenberg films and “Waking the Dead” as well as Maureen Robinson in the latest incarnation of “Lost in Space.”

The inspiring true story makes the record books, and the stories of the underrated young players is legendary in its time. Their story resulted in a showdown that became an instant ESPN classic in its day.

On a personal note, this movie was not only tough to watch, but also review, since I was diagnosed with cancer at the exact time of watching the film. I found out my biopsy was malignant in the middle of writing the review!

The performances in the film made it all the more real for me, and I appreciate that. In a way it, was a miracle that it happened that way, and I’m glad it did. My diagnosis is not as severe as the one in the film, but it gives anyone with a particular challenge a lot of hope and faith that “You Gotta Believe.”

The movie is rated PG and is playing in wide release.

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