YOU GOTTA BELIEVE – A Review by John Strange
Director Ty Roberts has given us several Texas-centric films in the last several years. He brought us The Iron Orchard in 2018 and 12 Mighty Orphans in 2021. Lane Garrison, another Texan, co-wrote 12 Mighty Orphans and had sole writing credit for You Gotta Believe, Ty’s new film.
This film is the story of a Fort Worth Little League baseball team. During the regular season, the boys stunk as a team, despite all their coach, Bobby Ratliff (Luke Wilson) could do. And the team manager, Jon Kelly (Greg Kinnear), Bobby’s best friend wasn’t a lot of help.
At the end of the regular season, Jon is approached to manage the team in a try for the Little League World Series by Kliff Young (Patrick Renna). You may remember Patrick from 1993’s The Sandlot.
The kids need something to motivate them and sadly, Bobby provides them with that motivation: cancer. His cancer appears as a tumor in his head.
This movie plays like a story that Walt Disney would have produced except that the film has a more realistic ending. It IS a true story, after all, and the cancer-related scenes are well thought out and handled well in light of the kids who will be watching the movie.
I was unable to attend the local premiere of the film, but I am so glad that they gave me the option to watch and review it anyway. This is a very good film and more importantly, it’s a good family film. Take your boys (and girls) to see this film. It will make for a good family afternoon and provide you with some good talks about life afterward.
Director: Ty Roberts
Cast: Luke Wilson, Greg Kinnear, Sarah Gadon, Lew Temple, Michael Cash, Etienne Kellici, Molly Parker, Patrick Renna
MPAA Rating: PG (for thematic content, language, and suggestive references.)
Selig Rating: 5 Stars
Runtime: 104 Min.
Release Date: 08/30/2024
Language: English
Genre: Family, Sport
Movie Site: YOU GOTTA BELIEVE Official Site
Trailer: YOU GOTTA BELIEVE Official Trailer
The Selig Rating Scale:
5 Stars – Excellent movie/show, well worth the time and price.
4 Stars – Good movie/show
3 Stars – OK movie/show
2 Stars – Well, there was nothing else…
1 Star – Total waste of time.
