Inspirational sports movies are practically a genre to themselves, from “Rocky” and “Hoosiers” to “The Natural” and “Field of Dreams.” Even the success in recent years of the streaming series “Ted Lasso” and “Welcome to Wrexham” can be tied to the power of belief in the pursuit of sportsball.
The particular pedigree of “You Gotta Believe,” though, is specifically “Bad News Bears,” “The Sandlot” and other youth sports movies where a ragtag, disorganized team of chronic losers are suddenly whipped up to winners.
The difference with the new movie, they will remind you more than once, is that it was true and frankly, they will be surprised if you don’t remember the 2002 Little League World Series where an unlikely team from Fort Worth made the finals.
If that isn’t enough emotion for you, though, one of the player’s dads, a coach on the team, was sidelined by cancer that eventually killed him.
Ty Roberts, who co-wrote, produced and directed, has done this kind of thing before about another real life Fort Worth team comprised of orphans during the Depression, “12 Mighty Orphans,” with Luke Wilson.
Wilson returns here as Bobby Ratliff, bringing the same kind of folksy, team-building common sense of his previous character. He’s paired with another solid actor, Greg Kinnear, as a slightly more cynical (or perhaps realistic) coach who nonetheless rises to the task of whipping a team of what look to be phenomenal failures (foulballs shattering the popcorn machine, strikeouts to the max) to the heights of youth baseball.
As usual, each kid is distinguished by a particular trait — loverboy, nerd, outcast. But having the son of the sick coach takes out his frustration on the field is less clear-cut.
“You Gotta Believe” is as predictable as it sounds but even so, it’s a solid family movie with enough laughs and pathos to fuel the story. Little League aficionados will be disappointed that it isn’t shot in Williamsport, Penn., but instead, a nearly as historic field in London, Ontario. (To shoot a story as American as this one, you still can only afford to shoot in Canada).
These stories are written so that women are the patient and supportive truth-tellers at home, and filling the bill here are the Canadian actress Sarah Gadon and the always welcome Molly Parker (“Deadwood”).
There may be short shrift to some of the colorful assistant coaches played by Lew Temple and Martin Roach. But there are a lot of specific games to get through and the montages of the wins and losses get increasingly creative, with hits and runs from the point of view of player, defender and in some cases, the ball itself. That the team adopts the hoary “Rawhide” as a theme song, though, seems a little far-fetched.
And showing the real life team members may be hammering the point too much. But if every generation needs its own “Bad News Bears,” “You Gotta Believe” is the kind of reliable, feel good sports movie that’s good for family outings or if your team’s game has been rained out.
“You Gotta Believe” is available on demand or in theaters. Go here to find if it’s near you.