★ 7 / 10
**_Youth antics, baseball and romance with Freddie Prince
Wuchak
**_Youth antics, baseball and romance with Freddie Prince Jr. and Jessica Biel_** While a Cape Cod baseball prospect with hopes for the Major League lands a…
**_Youth antics, baseball and romance with Freddie Prince Jr. and Jessica Biel_**
While a Cape Cod baseball prospect with hopes for the Major League lands a gig playing for the Chatham Athletics (Freddie), his potential girlfriend (Biel) is pressured by her pompous father (Bruce Davison) to move to San Francisco and work for a firm. Brian Dennehy plays the no-nonsense coach while Matthew Lillard, Brittany Murphy, Corey Pearson and Wilmer Valderrama play various youths. Fred Ward and Jason Gedrick are on hand as the father and brother of the protagonist.
"Summer Catch" (2001) is essentially a baseball version of "Youngblood" (1986), "Varsity Blues" (1999) and "The Program" (1993). It's not as good as "Varsity Blues," but it's arguably superior to "The Program." Sure, it's predictable in some ways, but everything clicks for an entertaining coming-of-age flick: cast, story, acting, locations, cinematography, music and editing.
Biel shines on the feminine front in several notable scenes while Beverly D'Angelo still sizzles at 49 years-old in a small role; and Brittany is nothing to sneeze at. I'm at a loss as to why "Summer Catch" is so reviled.
The film runs 108 minutes and was shot in Southport, North Carolina.
GRADE: B
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★ 4 / 10
The best Freddie Prinze movie I've ever seen! *SPOILERS*
FeverDog
Well, this IS better than SHE'S ALL THAT and DOWN TO YOU, right? After reading all the harsh words here slung at SUMMER CATCH, I had to contribute some levity.…
Well, this IS better than SHE'S ALL THAT and DOWN TO YOU, right?
After reading all the harsh words here slung at SUMMER CATCH, I had to contribute some levity. Yeah, the baseball scenes are edited to avoid showing actual baseball mechanics, but does that really matter in a movie like this? Some of the baseball action with Freddie Prinze was almost exciting, and this is the first time I can honestly put "Freddie Prinze" and "exciting" in the same sentence without inserting "not" between them. (Please note, I wrote "almost.")
Let's now get the negativity out of the way. First, I couldn't believe all the sex play in this PG-13 movie (which replaces COYOTE UGLY on the top of the Jack Valenti Wall of Shame). I'm no prude, but this movie deserves an R-rating for its lewd beer-pouring moments alone. And speaking of sex, while Beverly D'Angelo cucumber-loving den mother looked fantastic in this movie, her role here was an uninspired retread of similar characters from BULL DURHAM and YOUNGBLOOD. And what was with that guy who dug, well, "a whole lotta woman"? He made some comment about admiring guys' butts, but that quasi-queer angle never made a second appearance. Yep, SUMMER CATCH is PG-13. (And ALMOST FAMOUS gets an "R." Someone please explain this inconsistency!)
So, anyway, besides all that, there's also the laundry list of ancient clichés: Overcoming parental loss, losing one's virginity to an older woman, the stoner peanut gallery, the cute kid, love crossing class boundaries, climbing from despair to victory, winning the Big Game, and, finally, Freddie Prinze is a Really Nice Guy while Sidekick Matthew Lillard Provides Comic Relief. And who could sleep while being soaked by a sprinkler? And the diction of Freddie's brother for some reason reminded me of Steve from SEX AND THE CITY;
The soundtrack is filled with forgettable rock tunes and a score inexplicably reminiscent of the music in THE LAST SEDUCTION. And with all the product placement here, was this movie sponsored by the Samuel Adams brew company?
So, why don't I hate this movie? I dunno, maybe since I watched the sleazy SWORDFISH earlier in the evening and most any movie would look better after that crap. Or maybe because of the unexpected Hank Aaron, Ken Griffey and Beverly D'Angelo cameos (Ellen Griswold never looked so fine), or since our hero made his big-league debut with Philadelphia (I was raised in South Jersey and will always be a Phillies Phan). Like I already said, some of the baseball stuff is kind of fun despite the sleight-of-hand direction. And, hey, I'm the guy who likes THE FAN; maybe I just cannot totally trash any baseball movie. No, not even FOR LOVE OF THE GAME, which resembles SUMMER CATCH in that both movies should have kept their stories on the field and dropped their goopy romantic subplots.
4/10
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