This is another one I saw in the theater back in the day and thought would be perfect for us.
Specs:
About an hour and a half; rated PG. (Though the language is unexpectedly salty for a PG movie).
Our family's average rating on a scale from 1-10:
7.75
More about the film and our reaction to it:
In this film, Walter Matthau plays a grumbly old former ballplayer, turned pool maintenance guy who is talked into coaching a rag-tag little league team. The kids encompass a range of personality quirks, but very little actual sports talent. They are helped out by coach's ex-girlfriend's daughter (Tatum O'Neil) who (one can see) in addition to having a famous father, deserved this starring role for her personality and acting chops. The team eventually learns to play ball and work together, but not without first enduring some tension and hurt feelings.
Its a good movie for a lot of reasons. Walter Matthau alone is worth the price of admission. The interplay among the kids as they fight and protect each other and work through various emotional entanglements is the bread and butter of the experience. It's also worth watching to note how unfettered and free (comparatively) kids' lives used to be: piling into cars without seat belts, swearing, hanging out with their coach scrubbing out pools, moving about in the world without apparent supervision. No matter what your take on whether that style of life or our current one is better, this film surely gives an eye-opening cultural perspective on the not too distant past.
Iconic image:
No comments:
Post a Comment