2008 Woodie Awards
'Final Season' sparks waning sports film genre
Benjamin Billman
Issue date: 10/18/07 Section: Intermission
- Page 1 of 1
Not too long ago, it seemed to me the trend of creating inspirational movies in Hollywood about influential sports teams was beginning to wane.
Such films as "We Are Marshall," "Glory Road" and "Invincible" thrilled minds and rose goose bumps on the collective audience's skin.
However, after becoming a dime a dozen, they seem to be done, with the new Hollywood trend on more of the cheesy and pointless romance films starring Ben Stiller or Dane Cook.
Even yet, one more has emerged. "The Final Season" opened in theaters Friday, and from start to finish, held audiences riveted.
The film follows the story of a high school in Norway, Iowa, a small town of no more than 601 people, and more importantly, their baseball team.
The baseball team is the powerhouse in the state, having won 19 state titles as of the time of the movie. The school board proposes consolidation of its school with the larger Benton Community, portrayed in the film as Madison School District because it finds the school to be too small.
The public outcry is tremendous, but to no avail. Their only concession being that the school will have one more year to acclimate the students to the change and for the baseball team to take one more shot at the title.
Through some side dealings, the president of the school board manages to force the resignation of the school's hall-of-fame coach, bringing in the former assistant coach of the team, Kent Stock (played by Sean Astin, famous for his role as Daniel Ruttiger in "Rudy" and Sam in "Lord of the Rings").
Even with a much smaller team than normal (as many of the kids don't even bother coming out), and some dissension among the team he has, Stock is able to inspire the kids to play beyond themselves, finally taking them to the state title.
While it is certainly a wonderful movie for people from small towns everywhere, the film touched even closer to the hearts and minds of a SCSU student from Norway.
Third-year student Seth Whiting, who went to see the movie Saturday, described the film's authenticity.
"It is authentic for the actual town, where they play baseball all the time," Whiting said. "It's really awesome that it's such a great story and almost all true."
There were, of course, small Disney modifications to the movie which were evident from a romance which really didn't exist in the real story, to some dramatics when it came to the game.
But, the nice thing was, unlike some other recent movies, the director didn't fill this one with useless information that detracted from the actual story.
Whiting also mentioned the thrill of seeing some of his friends present during the film, which I imagine has to be an amazing feeling.
Such films as "We Are Marshall," "Glory Road" and "Invincible" thrilled minds and rose goose bumps on the collective audience's skin.
However, after becoming a dime a dozen, they seem to be done, with the new Hollywood trend on more of the cheesy and pointless romance films starring Ben Stiller or Dane Cook.
Even yet, one more has emerged. "The Final Season" opened in theaters Friday, and from start to finish, held audiences riveted.
The film follows the story of a high school in Norway, Iowa, a small town of no more than 601 people, and more importantly, their baseball team.
The baseball team is the powerhouse in the state, having won 19 state titles as of the time of the movie. The school board proposes consolidation of its school with the larger Benton Community, portrayed in the film as Madison School District because it finds the school to be too small.
The public outcry is tremendous, but to no avail. Their only concession being that the school will have one more year to acclimate the students to the change and for the baseball team to take one more shot at the title.
Through some side dealings, the president of the school board manages to force the resignation of the school's hall-of-fame coach, bringing in the former assistant coach of the team, Kent Stock (played by Sean Astin, famous for his role as Daniel Ruttiger in "Rudy" and Sam in "Lord of the Rings").
Even with a much smaller team than normal (as many of the kids don't even bother coming out), and some dissension among the team he has, Stock is able to inspire the kids to play beyond themselves, finally taking them to the state title.
While it is certainly a wonderful movie for people from small towns everywhere, the film touched even closer to the hearts and minds of a SCSU student from Norway.
Third-year student Seth Whiting, who went to see the movie Saturday, described the film's authenticity.
"It is authentic for the actual town, where they play baseball all the time," Whiting said. "It's really awesome that it's such a great story and almost all true."
There were, of course, small Disney modifications to the movie which were evident from a romance which really didn't exist in the real story, to some dramatics when it came to the game.
But, the nice thing was, unlike some other recent movies, the director didn't fill this one with useless information that detracted from the actual story.
Whiting also mentioned the thrill of seeing some of his friends present during the film, which I imagine has to be an amazing feeling.