I haven’t read any reviews, so I don’t know what the ‘experts’ are saying. My sister keenly observed the theme of emotion vs science, and that runs cleanly through the film.

My issues arise primarily with the last fifteen to twenty minutes, which were completely superfluous. It was not believable that Bean became an evangelist for ‘the cause’ – that transformation is simply not in the movie. One minute all he wants is to win, but the next minute he actually says ‘I’m not in it for the ring.’  When I heard that line it was like an audio typo. He couldn’t have actually said that. But he did. Preposterously, he only wanted to change the game. Well, where the he’ll did that come from?

On the good side, I thought the depiction of professional baseball was loving and respectful. The sequence leading up to the 20 game winning streak was great drama that also broke down the timing of a baseball season in increasingly smaller increments. Months, weeks, days, one game, one inning, one at-bat and, finally one pitch. I found this part of the movie perfectly captured the flow of drama and intensity that makes baseball my favorite professional sport.

Despite the obvious vanity of the film’s star, who also co-produced, his performance is tight, nuanced and understated. Overall, my gripes and criticisms are small compared to the amount of enjoyment I got from the film, especially after expecting to hate it.