I had to wait for someone in the mall, and since it was "cheap day" at the cinema, I bought some popcorn and sat in on this film. I knew absolutely nothing about it except that it was a clean film, about baseball. I flinched when I saw it was animated, but soon began to enjoy it. I'm a daycare worker, and thought that the boy's movements and speech were VERY realistic for that age. (So help me, I was sure I knew the boy upon whom the character must be based!) I thought the plot was enjoyable, simple enough for even smallest children to grasp, with plenty of nostalgia thrown in for adults (eg. ancient train station way out in the boondocks in the middle of the night). I did NOT care much for the talking baseball's script -- a cliché here and there is expected, but we ALWAYS knew what was going to come out of the baseball's mouth. The talking bat was cute. The ending was satisfying. Plenty of violence in this film, but it's a good kind: the bad guy keeps trying to be mean, so things "happen" to him.
The bonus in this film was seeing how a boy supports his parents in a moment of crisis, instead of badmouthing them and disobeying them. Oh, yes, almost forgot -- loved the depiction of the mother -- she looked so... real for that time. Great film overall.
The bonus in this film was seeing how a boy supports his parents in a moment of crisis, instead of badmouthing them and disobeying them. Oh, yes, almost forgot -- loved the depiction of the mother -- she looked so... real for that time. Great film overall.