The Perfect Game - Emilie De Ravin

April 18, 2010

The Perfect Game - Emilie De Ravin

"The Perfect Game" Movie Review

The Monterrey Industrials. If you've never heard of them or their story, then "The Perfect Game" is the perfect opportunity to get acquainted with these legendary Little Leaguers. Released yesterday across the U.S. and Canada, just a day after the 63rd anniversary of Jackie Robinson breaking the barrier of racism in America's major leagues of baseball, William Dear's film more than adequately tells this little-known story in American sports history.

( The Perfect Game' salutes Little League perfection in 1957 - Omar Moore )

Yes, The Perfect Game is a movie by Christians and for Christians. Whether or not that’s a positive trait is up to the audience. It features a lot of the familiar tropes: a kindly preacher (Cheech Marin, in full-on lovable mode) seeking strength to enrich the lives of his parishioners, a father (Carlos Gomez) who has lost his faith after his eldest son dies (the only way anybody could ever lose their faith in these types of films), and an atheist of sorts who eventually sees the light. To his credit, Clifton Collins Jr. is absolutely wonderful in the role of that last guy. He’s been one of the best unsung actors in Hollywood for many years now, and although The Perfect Game hasn’t met a single melodramatic cliché it didn’t like (“Lost’s” Emilie de Ravin even appears as a fast-talking reporter fighting off sexism in some of the more cringe-worthy scenes), Collins in particular brings an excess of dignity to the film, saving it from absolute conventionality.

( by William Bibbiani - Apr 15, 2010 )

It doesn’t take long to forget that The Perfect Game has true roots. From the moment the film begins, you know the Monterrey Industrials will ultimately achieve the impossible and become the first non-American team to take the Little League title. However, once the players are presented and the course of action established, a connection is made to the individuals on the screen completely independent of the actual people they’re portraying.

( by Perri Nemiroff : 2010-04-09 )

THE CHARACTERS in “The Perfect Game” speak old school “Hollywood Mexican.” In other words, they speak English with accents that we haven’t heard since the golden age of Speedy Gonzalez.

( musikz.com )

“The Perfect Game” is all about miracles, it is based the true story of the 1957 Little League World Series in which a rag-tag group of poor Mexican boys from the metal forge town of Monterrey cut a swathe of victory through the United States, to the admiration of American children and the chagrin of racists. Their meteoric rise to fame captured the attention of America and will capture your heart.

( by Leticia Velasquez - April 15, 2010 - CatholicMediaReview )

Perseverance, sermons from Cheech Marin's man of the cloth, and kindness toward others are put forth as the easy-bake ingredients necessary to succeed, with The Perfect Game preaching open-mindedness right up until the tale's conclusion. But by that point, the team—heckled by numerous white redneck caricatures—has been joined by a kindly African-American preacher (John Cothran Jr.) and a tough-cookie female reporter (Emilie de Ravin) to form a triumvirate of persecuted minorities. No doubt some of these particulars are true, but they're conveyed via so many sloppy clichés and truisms that every moment is smudged with screenwriter W. William Winokur's blunt fictionalizing touch.

( by Nick Schager - April 12, 2010 )