The Perfect Game 2009

Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel: The odd engaging moment is always followed by a cloying eye-roller, such as when a nearly-new ball appears on their dusty Monterey sandlot. "Father, what does it mean?" "It means God wants us to play baseball!" Read more

A.O. Scott, At the Movies: [From] the second minute of the movie I knew every single thing that was going to happen and there was not a single surprise. Read more

Neil Genzlinger, New York Times: So overwhelmed by its own based-on-actual-events tale that it can't find the tone to tell it effectively. Read more

Scott Tobias, AV Club: A paper-thin telling of a genuinely remarkable story that lifts the bullet points of a Mexican team's unprecedented run through the Little League World Series, and fills out the rest with stereotypes and rank sentimentality. Read more

Tom Russo, Boston Globe: The climactic drama of the championship game owes largely to the fact that, despite their unprecedented success as a foreign team in the tournament, young Angel Macias and his teammates somehow didn't go down in history, at least not stateside. Read more

J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader: Well-meaning but thick with cliches. Read more

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: The film is perfectly mediocre, which is heartbreaking, not heartwarming. Read more

Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor: Notable only for being a catalog of just about every kid-pic cliche' ever committed to film. Read more

Mark Olsen, Los Angeles Times: The heart of both the story and its telling do help in smoothing over other deficiencies, sweet and disarming in its belief that something like a baseball game can make a bigger difference. Read more

Aaron Hillis, L.A. Weekly: Barely dramatizing off-the-field struggles like visa problems and the boys' first taste of good ol' American racism, the film does a disservice to the community it depicts by rendering an inspiring cultural story entirely uninspired. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: A big, bland serving of corn that wouldn't have been out of place on The Wonderful World of Disney 50 years ago. Read more

Lou Lumenick, New York Post: This inspirational film, written by first-timer (and producer) W. William Winokur, is not for cynics or those resistant to cute kids (and child actors sometimes given to mugging). Read more

Carrie Rickey, Philadelphia Inquirer: A very sweet, very slight family movie that scores smiles and tears of joy. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: You sort of know how these underdog sports movies turn out. Doesn't matter. The Perfect Game so expertly uses the charisma and personalities of the actors, especially the young ones, that it's thrilling anyway. Read more

Rick Groen, Globe and Mail: Director William Dear is not one to miss a sentimental beat. Read more

Eric Hynes, Time Out: Although based on the real-life tale of nine underage underdogs from Monterrey, Mexico who swept the 1957 Little League World Series, this Cinderella sports story rings false from first pitch to last. Read more

Joe Leydon, Variety: It's an unabashedly corny but occasionally stirring dramedy based on the true-life story of scrappy young baseball players from Mexico. Read more

Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post: Anyone much older than, say, 10, will likely find the underdog saga sappy and manipulative, not to mention filled with sports movie cliches, including the following statement: "It will take a miracle to make them into a real team." Read more