Danny Reilly (Nick Visovich), a high school student with Down’s Syndrome, insists on playing high school baseball, much to everybody’s failure to even understand the wish – everybody but his father and team coach Bob (J. Dixon Byrne) that is, who sees a fire in Danny’s eyes that not all players have, and a passion for the sport that re-ignites his own passion, and so he spends evening after evening with his son training him as a batter, until he’s up to par to compete. But will the boy be able to translate into action the things he has learned at training?

It’s rather obvious that writer/director Brian Tracey knows what he’s talking about, and he freely admits to a passion for baseball, a trait inherited from his father, and has also volunteered at a Down’s Syndrome facility for years, so bringing the two together really made sense, especially if baseball isn’t just seen in the light of one big competition but as a bearer of life lessons like teamwork and determination, patience and a way to overcome obstacles.

The film resulting from this is a rather touching parable, one about the little wins rather than the spectacle of a sporting event, and one that despite all the action and a relative lack of dialogue is actually more character-driven, characters well-portrayed by Nick Visovich and J. Dixon Byrne, whom the camera always sticks close to rather than losing them in panoramic shots. And as a result it’s not only the finale that might move you to tears …

review © by Mike Haberfelner

 

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