SnoopyStyle California Angels scout Virgil Sweet (Edward James Olmos) goes down a mine shaft to try out a pitcher. He travels all over looking for the next phenom. His girlfriend Bobbie (Lorraine Bracco) also works for the team. New owner Gil Lawrence is going to fire every scout in the field. While Virgil is on the road with Bobbie, his car breaks down and they encounter Sammy Bodeen pitching in a dusty town. Sammy's parents allow him to go with Virgil to L.A. His mother asks Virgil to look out for him. Sammy impresses with his 102 mph fastball and Lawrence rushes him to start for the promotional opportunity.Edward James Olmos has such a stand up persona that when he starts to lose his way, it's actually quite disconcerting. Of course, it's Olmos and he cannot be anything but a stand up guy. He and Bracco have a fun older chemistry. On the other hand, Jeff Corbett is not much of an actor or at least not in this movie. It's his theatrical debut. Maybe he was an athlete-turned-actor. The big baseball game is a bit hokey. The whole movie is a bit hokey but that is sometimes baseball.

salorkent I suppose I could be prejudiced in commenting on this movie, since I was a member of the cast ... however, my scene ended up on the cutting room floor (fairly typical) and since I was scared to death when I filmed it and was just shy of awful, I hope you'll cut me some slack! Edward James Olmos is good, Lorraine Bracco gave some zip to an otherwise marginal role. Using real-life location settings in my beautiful home state of Washington, as well as Cour D'Alene, Idaho, adds some spectacle and reality to what is, admittedly, a somewhat clichéd story. But then again, so is just about every other baseball movie I've seen, and yet I love 'em all. Perhaps the most cogent part of the story is the battle between corporate greed and the simple love of the sport, which Olmos portrays well. He is an excellent actor (and I'm happy he's found success with Battlestar Galactica.) This movie had a very limited theatrical release and was rushed to video shortly thereafter. If you really love baseball, and in particular if you dislike the way the sport (and many other sports, too) has been sullied by big bucks, I think you'll enjoy it. Oh, and Olmos was a real gentleman to the rest of the cast, something I'll always appreciate. You'll have to overlook plot devices (in that, it makes me think of "It Happens Every Spring") and you won't have the awe-making spectacle of "Field of Dreams." What you get is a mostly realistic depiction of the sport, and the hope that beats eternal that another "phenom" is about to make an appearance.

gaalpert I read everyone's reviews and they were all pretty accurate. Each person will take something different from this movie. If you ever wanted to be a pro ball player you might relate more to Virgil's character and desires. Overall I gave it a strong numeric rating due to Olmos' unsung performance and Bracco's. Traditionally this is the basically a repeated story but the twist in this is the scout's desire to essentially play one time in the majors and feel the glow of the experience. That is a bit of a different perspective than what has been utilized in the past. The rest of the story and supporting cast are just that, supporting. But they do it well to make a rather enjoyable film. I would certainly put it in my top ten of baseball related movies with a strong human element intertwined throughout the storyline.Enjoy.

cc06 This movie is really low key throughout, slow with interesting characters (with the exception of the billionaire owner). Olmos steals the show as the scout, and Bracco is just wonderful as his significant other.I found the movie compelling and captivating, more about character development than plot, and subtly and richly portrayed by the two most important members of the cast, Olmos and Bracco. The climactic game and the ending are a bit disappointing, but still this movie ranks among my favorite sports films. One thing that really helps the movie is that Corbett has a believable motion and throws reasonably hard. The baseball scenes are pretty good. in large part because some of them were shot at actual big-league games and spliced in. That's better than having bad actors trying to play ball, I think.