Rated PG, Run Time: 2 Hours

Starring Sean Astin, Powers Boothe, Rachel Leigh Cook, and Directed by David Mickey Evans.

The Final Season is your stereotypical sports movie. If you've seen one, you've seen them all! Without much character development or original ideas, this movie feels like you've watched it before. But that's not a bad thing, as I love to buy a DVD of my favorite shows and watch them over and over again. With this particular film, you get a new story that invites you in with themes you know and are comfortable with. It's safe to say that if you like sports movies, you will like this show.

The Final Season is the true story of a small town Iowa baseball team that has won 19 straight state championships. At the beginning of the 20th season, the school is facing consolidation with another bigger school in the next town. Everybody in the town is against it, however the school board carries on with the consolidation to take effect after the next school year which gives the baseball team one final season.

This movie is chock full of corn in more ways than one. The acting is straightforward and the line delivery is very corny. The story and plot points are handed out in the normal inspiring sports story way. The one thing that the movie does well without the corn is capturing engaging baseball. It takes awhile to actually get to the start of the 20th season, but when it finally does, the baseball action is fun to watch and enjoy.

Sean Astin does a marvelous job playing it straight while Rachel Leigh Cook looks like an overdressed doll. She doesn't fit the part well and calls in her performance. The rest of the cast, including Tom Arnold, does a respectable job playing the roles believably. The lines may be full of corn and syrup, but the actors jumped right in and started swimming.

It all works together to make the latest inspiring sports movie. Without much star power, marketing campaign, early awareness, or major studio backing, this film will have a hard time catching on by word of mouth as it is nothing to rave about, but if you are looking for a good time and like sports movies, you could do way worse than spending a couple hours with The Final Season.

I recommend The Final Season to any sports movie fan or baseball fan. It is currently playing at Cinema 3 in McCook. Check out www.fridleytheatres.com for showtimes and more information.