What makes a great baseball movie? Star power never hurts. A team of kids that rallies around a common cause? Sure. We've loved that before, right? Solid on-field play? Definitely a plus. Based on a true story? I'll be honest, I've never cared too much about that part, but it can lend a bit of weight to a story. Think "Moneyball" or "Eight Men Out." But, even if you put all of that together, it's not a magic recipe for a great baseball movie. The 2024 Netflix release "You Gotta Believe" has all of these things, yet it still doesn't make us jump up from our seat cheering for the home team.

The plot for "You Gotta Believe" is pretty standard After School Movie Special type stuff. Greg Kinnear plays, Jon Kelly, a lawyer who's also a very disengaged coach of a dreadful Little League team. Luke Wilson plays the more passionate nice-guy assistant coach, Bobby Ratliff. Once the team's season is done, Jon is asked to coach the team in the Little League World Series tourney. Even though they're a hopeless team, the league needs to field a team to keep their sponsorships. At first, Coach Kelly scoffs at the idea, but when Coach Ratliff is diagnosed with terminal cancer, he's flip flops to give Coach Ratliff a reason to get out of bed each day. Surprise, surprise...they start to redefine their individual roles on the team, playing to their personal strengths and start to do pretty well. 

The actual baseball in the movie is pretty solid for a young group. Some of the concepts are a bit unrealistic. One kid can't catch because he's afraid of the ball. What do they do? Move him from first base to catcher, where he feels protected by all the gear. Really? Really. One kid starts to hit better when he takes his glasses off. I didn't get that one at all. When the team starts to do well in the tourney, the fast-paced baseball action looks very good if you can get past the bizarre editing. More on that in a bit. 

The acting is fine, but very lackluster. I like both Luke Wilson and Greg Kinnear, and they were okay, but there really wasn't any room to spread their wings here. The team itself was pretty dull, but that's not the actors' fault either. The kids just didn't have real interesting characters like those we love in The Sandlot. On a fun note, we get a surprise visit from a Sandlot favorite as Patrick Renna (we know him as catcher Ham Porter) plays the league president that has to beg Coach Kelly to take the team to the tourney. It's always fun to see that guy pop up. 

Okay. There is one scene in this movie that stands out, but for me at least, not in a good way. As the team starts to win in the tourney, it becomes a song montage, which is pretty common. However, the song they chose is "Rawhide." Not only that, as the screen flips and twitches to fast edited baseball play, you see players and coaches mouthing the words to the song and making the whip action with their hands. My honest reaction was, WTF? What is happening. It is so odd. Some might love it, but I thought it felt really out of place in this movie and just weird overall. 

Overall, "You Gotta Believe," takes a pretty remarkable true story and makes it mostly generic with a touch of absurd. It's watchable, but also pretty forgettable. If you like "feel-good" movies, this could be your jam. Put it on when you have some light work to do and check it off your list. (We all keep baseball movie lists, right?) It's a made-for-Netflix movie, so that's where you can find it. 

Grab your popcorn and play ball!

Run Time: 1 hr 44 min

Scorecard: Single up the middle.

Best line: Coach: "Welcome to Williamsport, boys!" 
                 Player: "Are you sure those are boys? That guy has a mustache?"  (We all played against that kid as Little Leaguers, didn't we?)