The story of the Norway High School Tigers’ baseball team is an amazing one: 19 state championships in 22 years. But in 1991, the high school was scheduled to be incorporated into another district, leaving the baseball team just one last season. And that same year was the last for all-star coach Jim Van Scoyoc (Powers Boothe, 24), whose contract wasn’t renewed despite having led the baseball team to 12 of those championships.
The setup for the latest inspirational sports movie, The Final Season, is all there. But here’s where the film begins to run into problems: The story, as it stands, is a fantastic one about the unity of a small town and how a team bands together to overcome adversity. The Final Season, however, is about neither of the above.
The film packs some big sports-movie names: Sean Astin (What Love Is) serves as the film’s executive producer and also portrays the baseball team’s new coach, Kent Stock, while David M. Evans, the man behind The Sandlot, is in the director’s chair. The duo may seem like a dream pairing – Astin played the title role in Rudy, one of the best sports movies of all time, and Evans demonstrated baseball knowledge with The Sandlot – but The Final Season is sloppy from the start.
Michael Anganaro (Snow Angels) tries his hardest as Mitch Akers, the big-city kid who is forced to move in with his grandparents after the death of his mother. His father, Burt (Tom Arnold, Pride), feels a move to the small town where he grew up and played baseball is just what Mitch needs, and subsequently leaves him there, returning only in time for the big game.
Of course, the outsider moving into town doesn’t go over well, and, though Akers clashes with the team’s star player, Patrick Iverson (Bret Claywell, One Tree Hill), he decides to befriend Iverson when he learns the hot girl he’s had his eye on is Iverson’s sister, Cindy (Danielle Savre, Bring It On: All or Nothing). Soon, Akers and Iverson are succeeding together on the field.
But the stereotypes come fast and furious – for example, Anganaro tries too hard to make Akers’ role a rebellious one. The huge, oversized biker jacket Anganaro wears as Akers (a lá James Dean) comes off as ridiculous and dwarfs the actor, and he looks more silly than believable.
Yet The Final Season has some good things going for it, namely Larry Miller (For Your Consideration), who plays a reporter assigned to cover the team.
Overall, however, The Final Season fails to live up to the expectations the true story set for the film. There was a real opportunity to make a great movie based on the story, but the result is choppy. Despite positive performances from Astin and Anganaro (even in the outrageous jacket), the movie just comes off wrong – much like a two-out strikeout in the bottom of the ninth.
tripp@umd.edu
