Trite Summer Love Movie
Added 1/29/2010
Satisfaction is about setting the proper expectations. This movie is a great example.
Without providing too much of the plot, this movie is not a baseball movie. In fact, baseball is nothing more than a sideshow for the trite love and social class struggle of a pitcher looking to achieve some level of success in life.
The scenes are set (on location) on Cape Cod and according to the infamous Cape Cod Baseball (amateur) League, a institution that boasts production of many future major leaguers. While the baseball scenes stick to the CC League traditions and many of the actual towns/teams, it is really just used as a premise or vehicle to set the format for the class struggle of a local pitcher (Freddie Prinze Jr)/college drop-out/landscaper to battle against the odds of winning the love of the rich hottie (Jessica Biel), beyond the dwindling confines of her summer vacation. Add in the usual formula of the rich and domineering father of Biel, the poor and dissatisfied-in-life father of Prinze, and the struggle for Prinze to make something successful of himself (despite the odds), and you have this movie in a nutshell.
What's wrong with this, assuming you are not put off by the usual formulas in movies? Well, Biel's 'acting' is atrocious, but she is just one of many awful performances. Beyond that, the movie just rushes through the character development and scenes on way too rapid a pace. It really needed an additional half hour. That and the baseball is just too nonsensical and contrived, in it's situations and performance, to be any value to a bb enthusiast.
However, this movie IS entertaining, still, with all these faults. It may not be great quality, but it moves along so fast that you won't be bored! Just expect a teenage, summer-type movie and you'll be fine...
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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This was a movie we had many years ago, and lent it to someone and never got it back. It was an Easter purchase for my husband who loves this movie, He's happy to have this movie back in his collection. Thank You! Monica Diefes
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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1-for-5 with an RBI-single
Added 5/2/2009
Remember when you watched Bull Durham, had that odd feeling, and asked yourself, "Is this a chick flick in disguise?" Well, look no further, because Summer Catch takes that concept, disposes of the authentic baseball all together, elevates the level of sap from "argh" to "groan", and follows a cheesy teen-comedy to the predictable end.
Ryan Dunne (Prinze), a college drop out with impeccable grooming, makes his way to his hometown Cape Code League, a place where college stars play summer baseball, and he mows adjacent lawns for his dad's landscaping business. In roughly one encounter - in which he's embarrassed - he finds true, star-crossed love with Tenley Parrish (Biel), the incredible-looking, rich, smart, funny, nice girl who doesn't exist in real life, and whose daddy doesn't approve. Immediately you're left thinking, will Freddie mow the lawn, or will he "mow the lawn"?
What truly ruined this for me - other than the fact that it was disingenuously billed as a sports movie - is the unbelievable collection of sports realism. How unathletic is Prinze if he isn't even shown playing baseball? He's never shown in a full baseball action scene, and it looks like the director wanted to hide his limp-wristed throwing style. Even that gawd awful throwing motion of Tim Robbins was included in Bull Durham...how horrible must Freddie have looked? And that isn't even exploring the concept of a 6'3", 120-lb. catcher in Matthew Lillard. With one of the least athletic body frames in history (unless the movie is about distance running) Lillard is cast as a catcher, which just happens to be the most demanding position in baseball. Despite providing the only real laughs of the movie, he should stick to the computer hacker genre, or another Scooby Doo sequel with his BFF Prinze.
The supporting cast fills out nicely. Fred Ward as the dad who expects failure from Prinze (because he's seen Prinze throw), Brian Dennehy as an incompetent coach, John McGinley and Beverly D'Angelo in unimportant roles, Jason Gedrick unleashing a horrible Boston accent while trying to mimic Ben Affleck's role from Good Will Hunting (which should tell you quite a bit about Gedrick's performance and tone), and Wilmer Valderrama taking Fez from TV to the big screen by playing Fez, but with a different name and the same sexual insecurities.
It's all been done before, and better. The only bright spot is the comedy factor, with several good laughs mostly coming from Lillard. In the end, I was hoping for an ending that left Prinze's character (and Prinze) with a torn rotator cuff, Biel two months pregnant from a one-night stand with the ex-con concessions guy who sells those delicious pretzels, and every character in the movie searching for their next career choice (hint: it involves fries).
Fans of romantic comedies: 2-5, double from romance, single from the heart-throb combo, comedy with an RBI
Fans of sports movies: 1-5 with a single from Matthew Lillard, easily scoring Jessica Biel - whose looks started her out on the third base of life
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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lawnboy does the rich girl in baseball?
Added 4/19/2009
This movie is sort of a chick flick romantic comedy with a sports twist.
A minor league start in New England for a local
boy whose father has a landscaping business
goes wrong on the first day.
There are high jinx here with pools, pool, house mothers and bar room babes.
The story/ plot line just isn't real original, the acting at times is pretty bad even at the character actor level?
The result is pretty much an empty head comedy...
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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Not a Catch, Not a Strike
Added 2/13/2009
Ryan Dunne (Freddie Prinze Jr.) has the chance of a lifetime. This summer, he's part of the prestigious Nantucket baseball league, the league that the pro scouts use to find new talent. Considering his tendency to crash and burn, he needs to cut all distractions out of his life.
But a beautiful distraction comes in the form of Tenley Parrish (Jessica Biel). Ryan and his father take care of the Parrish family yard work. The two are definitely from different classes, but they connect right away. Will they overcome their differences? Can Ryan realize his dream of playing professional baseball?
I went into this movie expecting a romantic comedy and was surprised at just how much of a part baseball played in the story. Still, those scenes never bothered this non-sports person.
What was weak was the writing. The story is one cliche after another, not all of them believable. And that definitely holds true for the climax. Some of the characters made rather abrupt about faces with little to no explanation.
But the characters pulled me into the story. I couldn't help but root for them to find their happy ending. Heck, I even came to enjoy Matthew Lillard's Billy, and actor I often find hard to swallow. The actors really did save the movie for me.
If you are willing to let yourself get swept up in the story, you'll enjoy it. But you aren't missing anything if you skip it, either.
0 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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Trite Summer Love Movie
Added 1/29/2010
Satisfaction is about setting the proper expectations. This movie is a great example.
Without providing too much of the plot, this movie is not a baseball movie. In fact, baseball is nothing more than a sideshow for the trite love and social class struggle of a pitcher looking to achieve some level of success in life.
The scenes are set (on location) on Cape Cod and according to the infamous Cape Cod Baseball (amateur) League, a institution that boasts production of many future major leaguers. While the baseball scenes stick to the CC League traditions and many of the actual towns/teams, it is really just used as a premise or vehicle to set the format for the class struggle of a local pitcher (Freddie Prinze Jr)/college drop-out/landscaper to battle against the odds of winning the love of the rich hottie (Jessica Biel), beyond the dwindling confines of her summer vacation. Add in the usual formula of the rich and domineering father of Biel, the poor and dissatisfied-in-life father of Prinze, and the struggle for Prinze to make something successful of himself (despite the odds), and you have this movie in a nutshell.
What's wrong with this, assuming you are not put off by the usual formulas in movies? Well, Biel's 'acting' is atrocious, but she is just one of many awful performances. Beyond that, the movie just rushes through the character development and scenes on way too rapid a pace. It really needed an additional half hour. That and the baseball is just too nonsensical and contrived, in it's situations and performance, to be any value to a bb enthusiast.
However, this movie IS entertaining, still, with all these faults. It may not be great quality, but it moves along so fast that you won't be bored! Just expect a teenage, summer-type movie and you'll be fine...
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
This was a movie we had many years ago, and lent it to someone and never got it back. It was an Easter purchase for my husband who loves this movie, He's happy to have this movie back in his collection. Thank You! Monica Diefes
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
1-for-5 with an RBI-single
Added 5/2/2009
Remember when you watched Bull Durham, had that odd feeling, and asked yourself, "Is this a chick flick in disguise?" Well, look no further, because Summer Catch takes that concept, disposes of the authentic baseball all together, elevates the level of sap from "argh" to "groan", and follows a cheesy teen-comedy to the predictable end.
Ryan Dunne (Prinze), a college drop out with impeccable grooming, makes his way to his hometown Cape Code League, a place where college stars play summer baseball, and he mows adjacent lawns for his dad's landscaping business. In roughly one encounter - in which he's embarrassed - he finds true, star-crossed love with Tenley Parrish (Biel), the incredible-looking, rich, smart, funny, nice girl who doesn't exist in real life, and whose daddy doesn't approve. Immediately you're left thinking, will Freddie mow the lawn, or will he "mow the lawn"?
What truly ruined this for me - other than the fact that it was disingenuously billed as a sports movie - is the unbelievable collection of sports realism. How unathletic is Prinze if he isn't even shown playing baseball? He's never shown in a full baseball action scene, and it looks like the director wanted to hide his limp-wristed throwing style. Even that gawd awful throwing motion of Tim Robbins was included in Bull Durham...how horrible must Freddie have looked? And that isn't even exploring the concept of a 6'3", 120-lb. catcher in Matthew Lillard. With one of the least athletic body frames in history (unless the movie is about distance running) Lillard is cast as a catcher, which just happens to be the most demanding position in baseball. Despite providing the only real laughs of the movie, he should stick to the computer hacker genre, or another Scooby Doo sequel with his BFF Prinze.
The supporting cast fills out nicely. Fred Ward as the dad who expects failure from Prinze (because he's seen Prinze throw), Brian Dennehy as an incompetent coach, John McGinley and Beverly D'Angelo in unimportant roles, Jason Gedrick unleashing a horrible Boston accent while trying to mimic Ben Affleck's role from Good Will Hunting (which should tell you quite a bit about Gedrick's performance and tone), and Wilmer Valderrama taking Fez from TV to the big screen by playing Fez, but with a different name and the same sexual insecurities.
It's all been done before, and better. The only bright spot is the comedy factor, with several good laughs mostly coming from Lillard. In the end, I was hoping for an ending that left Prinze's character (and Prinze) with a torn rotator cuff, Biel two months pregnant from a one-night stand with the ex-con concessions guy who sells those delicious pretzels, and every character in the movie searching for their next career choice (hint: it involves fries).
Fans of romantic comedies: 2-5, double from romance, single from the heart-throb combo, comedy with an RBI
Fans of sports movies: 1-5 with a single from Matthew Lillard, easily scoring Jessica Biel - whose looks started her out on the third base of life
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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