You Gotta Believe

As a Canadian, I sometimes wish Hollywood would expend a little more energy on hockey movies and a little less on stories about baseball. How about a pristine sheet of gleaming ice instead of a field of dreams? How many times can life lessons be taught by flawed coaches to reluctant Little Leaguers? How many times can the underdogs knock off the brash bullies who only care about winning, whatever the cost?

The film You Gotta Believe starts out with some of these baseball clichés, but manages to break free from too much predictability as director Ty Roberts retells the true story of a group of misfit teenage ballplayers whose beloved coach is dying of cancer.

Coach Bobby Ratliff (Luke Wilson) hasn’t had much success on the ball field with his team, although the players all love and respect him. A sudden cancer diagnosis overwhelms the Ratliff family, and Bobby is unable to be out on the field. Writer Lane Garrison captures the angst of the Ratliff sons, especially Bobby Junior, who is mad at God and the world for his dad’s illness.

Assistant coaches Jon (Greg Kinnear) and Mitch (Lew Temple) step up their game and begin to whip the young men into shape. Inspired by their coach’s battle, the boys begin an improbable winning streak that takes them from Fort Worth, Texas, all the way to the 2002 Little League World Series.

Despite his sickness, Coach Bobby is determined to cheer on the boys in person. An incredible one-hitter performance by star pitcher Walker Kelly (Etienne Kellici) in the knockout stage provides 11 innings of drama and hope (one of the longest-ever Little League World Series games at the time). But since this is a true story and not pure Hollywood, viewers don’t get the ending they might expect.

You Gotta Believe is enjoyable viewing, with a little humor and reasonably believable sports scenes. Just who or what “you gotta believe” isn’t addressed as specifically as Christians might wish. But the message of courage, grit, and teamwork is an inspiring one that may resonate especially with younger viewers.