Baseball Movie Review: You Gotta Believe (2024)

What makes a great baseball movie? Star power never hurts. A team of kids that rallies around a common cause? Sure. We've loved that before, right? Solid on-field play? Definitely a plus. Based on a true story? I'll be honest, I've never cared too much about that part, but it can lend a bit of weight to a story. Think "Moneyball" or "Eight Men Out." But, even if you put all of that together, it's not a magic recipe for a great baseball movie. The 2024 Netflix release "You Gotta Believe" has all of these things, yet does it have what it takes to make us jump up from our seats and cheer for the home team? Let's find out.

First Inning: The opening scene is a Little League baseball game, and it's immediately evident that our team in this movie is very, very... not good. Meet "The Westside All-Stars," a hapless baseball team coached by Jon Kelly, a mostly disinterested lawyer (played by Greg Kinnear). Assistant Coach Bobby Ratliff (Luke Wilson) is much more engaged, but struggles as second in command. A confrontational meeting on the mound that seemed to include the whole team, but neither coach, quickly informs us that one kid is scared of the ball, the pitcher is just trying to hit the strike zone, and one kid is in love with his teammate's older sister. The All-Stars are down 9-0. But then it happens. One kid gets a hit, and there's hope!

Nope. Next kid gets out. Game over. Season over. In a pivotal moment, Coach Kelly refers to his "star player" when talking to Rivera. That kid looks him in the eye and says, "Star player? You've got plenty of good players, you just don't know how to coach 'em, coach." 

And then it happens. Coach Kelly looks up, and there is Hamilton "Ham" Porter waiting for him. Sorry, it's actually the league president, Klifford Young (played by none other than Patrick Renna). He wants Kelly to manage the All-Stars in a tournament for the Little League World Series. Why? They just need to enter a team to keep the league sponsors, and the better teams aren't interested. Kelly's a hard no. That is, until Coach Ratliff is diagnosed with terminal cancer, and he flip-flops to give Coach Ratliff a reason to get out of bed each day. 

Middle Innings: First, they work on selling the team on the idea. Then, it's time to get them into shape. Of course, one of the kids has a dad who was a Master Sergeant. Cue the ridiculous conditioning montage. Next, they start paying attention to the kids and why they're not performing well in their positions. Surprise, surprise... they start to redefine their individual roles on the team, play to their personal strengths, and do pretty well. 

The actual baseball in the movie is pretty solid for a young group. Some of the concepts are a bit unrealistic. One kid can't catch because he's afraid of the ball. What do they do? Move him from first base to catcher, where he feels protected by all the gear. Really? Really. One kid starts hitting better when he takes off his glasses. I didn't get that one at all. When the team starts to do well in the tourney, the fast-paced baseball action looks very good if you can get past the bizarre editing. More on that in a bit. 

The team enters the tourney, and they're a whole different team than they were a couple of weeks ago. As the team starts to advance, it becomes a song montage, which is pretty common. However, the song they chose is "Rawhide." Not only that, as the screen flips and twitches to fast edited baseball play, you see players and coaches mouthing the words to the song and making the whip action with their hands. My honest reaction was, ***? What is happening right now?. It is so odd. Some might love it, but I thought it felt really out of place in this movie and just weird overall. Perhaps the oddest scene in a baseball movie I've witnessed (and I've watched about 60 baseball movies). 

The Final Out: It's a remarkable run, based on a true story. As they get better, Coach Ratliff gets worse. The cancer is taking its toll. But they use that as a motivator to crystallize into a team with a purpose. Do they win it all? You'll have to watch it to find out.

For me, "You Gotta Believe" takes a pretty remarkable true story and turns it into something mostly generic, with a touch of absurdity. It's watchable but pretty forgettable in a Hallmark-meets "after-school special" sort of way. If you like "feel-good" movies, this could be your jam. Put it on when you have some light work to do and check it off your list. (We all keep baseball movie lists, right?) It's a made-for-Netflix movie, so that's where you can find it. 

I really want to know. If you saw this one and loved it, what did I miss? 

Run Time: 1 hr 44 min
IMDB Score: 5.9/10
Scorecard: Squib single
Best Line: Coach: "Welcome to Williamsport, boys!" 
                 Player: "Are you sure those are boys? That guy has a mustache?"  (We all played against that kid as Little Leaguers, didn't we?)

Player of the Game: If I had to pick, I guess Luke Wilson was as close to a stand-out as I could find in this one.