It seems like director David Evans can't shake baseball from his mind.
Fourteen years after directing his classic "The Sandlot" (1993), Evans is back on the diamond with "The Final Season." Instead of a St. Bernard endowed with almost mythical powers, this film is based on the true story of a small-town high school team from Norway, Iowa.
After the team wins its 19th consecutive state championship, all are optimistic for the next season. Unfortunately, this dream is soon jeopardized by the impending merger with a larger school nearby, which will disunite the legendary baseball team.
After successful coach Jim Van Scoyoc (played by Powers Boothe) is prevented from coaching his team for their final season, novice coach Kent Stock (Sean Astin) takes over the task of leading the Norway team, simultaneously battling the doubts of his players and those of the town.
There is no question that the film sells this location. From the initial shots of corn stalks, barns and traditional countryside imagery, the movie cements Iowa as the central distinction of an otherwise-tired premise.
While the script of "The Final Season" is a welcome (and likely accidental) departure from the Hollywood norm, providing an interesting taste of the Midwestern community bond, the Iowan injections feel at times excessive or irrelevant. Some are as explicit as the constant discussion of farm life or hatred for evil, anti-rural businessmen, but others are inserted more subtly, such as morality judgments about smoking.
A subjective analysis of setting, however, can only go so far in assessing quality. The principal flaw in "The Final Season" is that it attempts to tackle too many stories. In aspiring to be a Hollywood script, the novice screenwriters address many universal themes that might apply to a wider audience, including two significant romantic storylines, several half-touched father-son relationships, and a myriad of identity crises. In its ambitiousness, the film fails to develop any single storyline enough to account for its true complexity. The screenwriters seem to assume that all the stories could be managed according to a strict formula: introduce the storyline, show a scene where times are rough, and then show a classic, painfully clichéd triumph over problems.
Various scenes of success on the baseball field immediately juxtaposed with scenes of failure highlight the absence of efficient transitions as the film attempts to move speedily between storylines. A more telling description of the script's flaws can be seen through the strange, one-dimensional development of the relationship between Stock and marginal character Polly Hudson (Rachael Leigh Cook).
In the film's attempt to neatly wrap up these unruly storylines, it is quite easy to see the influence of Hollywood on its development. With such characteristics as the classic moment when the outfielder catches a destined home run right above the fence, or the tagline "How Do You Want to Be Remembered?" the film is unmistakably a failed Hollywood knock-off.
Unfortunately, the dialogue and acting fail to compensate for the fundamental flaws in the screenplay's organization. The exchanges between Astin and Cook are especially awkward to watch, as the romantic banter is particularly flat and unoriginal - not to mention the relationship's disjointed and glossed-over progression. Furthermore, resorting to simplistic depictions of the troubled teenager, business-oriented father, and the Iowan students stress problems with the script, but the actors also do little to help the situation.
Despite the film's major imperfections, viewers who have no qualms about seeing a reused, slightly modified baseball film will ultimately be able to overlook these issues for the classic Hollywood feel-good payoff. But be warned: staring at the wall for two hours might be less predictable.
