You Gotta Believe

          They say timing is everything, so having a movie come out about a Little League team and its run to the Little League World Series right after the current one ended is, I would say, good planning. I personally enjoy the Little League World Series—not only because I enjoy baseball, but also because watching those kids give it their all has something just pure about it. This story is about one of those teams and how they defied the odds.

In 2002, in Fort Worth, TX, there is a team of little leaguers that is not very good. Their coach, Jon Kelly (Greg Kinnear), is more occupied with his day job than managing, and that unfocused behavior seems to be spread throughout the team. This is their last game, but Coach Kelly is asked if their team will represent their league in an all-star game—something the coach turns down, as he doesn’t want to punish his boys anymore. Also, after that last game, Bobby Ratliff (Luke Wilson), whose son plays on the team, has a health episode and finds out that he has cancer and only a few months to live. Hearing that news, Coach Kelly decides it will be good to take the offer and starts to train the team to get them ready for their game. This time, though, things are different, as the team has the coach’s complete attention, and against the odds, they actually win the game. This becomes the beginning of something, and soon the team is winning like there’s no tomorrow, advancing to the Little League World Series.

Written by Lane Garrison, You Gotta Believe is a harmless little family film that leaves anything cynical at the door. It is also a classic underdog story that captures the essence of human struggle and the joy of triumph. You Gotta Believe soars at being inspiring and heartwarming, and it is easy to see why this team captured so many hearts back in 2002. That is not to say the movie throws a perfect game, as it makes a few errors, but its heart is in the right place, so it is easier to forgive those mistakes.

You Gotta Believe isn’t just about being an underdog; it also deals with sacrifice, faith, and belief—something it does a good job of conveying without overdoing it. When it comes to the cast, they are solid, and it certainly helps having Wilson and Kinnear, who could probably have played these roles in their sleep. Lucky for us, they did not sleepwalk through their performances and decide to deliver everything with the weight it deserves. This film hit the right notes for me, and while I had problems with some of the camera choices and felt that the runtime might be a little too long, those things were ultimately easy to overlook because of how the movie made me feel. I, like most people, love a good underdog story, and while it may not fill the bases, it still finds a way to fill your heart.