I felt the movie got off to a very good start and continued on that path for about half an hour, but then in an attempt to copy the charm of 'The Sandlot' (one actor even looks like the fat kid from that movie), it devolved into silliness and absurdity. The scenes on the tennis courts and then the baseball field had me fast-forwarding through much of the rest of the movie to about 10 minutes from the end, where it got quite emotional and regained some of its footing.
It seems obvious to me that most of the reviews accompanying high ratings are fakes, as there is no way anyone could watch this and seriously rate it a 9 or 10. I did think the kids did a decent job of acting, as did the few adults in the film, so no criticism there. But because of the aforementioned absurdity of some of the scenes, I'd have a hard time recommending this. If only it would have stayed on the original track, I think it would have been something special.
It seems obvious to me that most of the reviews accompanying high ratings are fakes, as there is no way anyone could watch this and seriously rate it a 9 or 10. I did think the kids did a decent job of acting, as did the few adults in the film, so no criticism there. But because of the aforementioned absurdity of some of the scenes, I'd have a hard time recommending this. If only it would have stayed on the original track, I think it would have been something special.