NR | 1h 40m | Comedy, Sports, Family Film | Sept. 10, 2024
There couldn’t have been a more perfect film than “Rally Caps” to premiere at the Field of Dreams Movie Site in Iowa, in August 2024. A delightful baseball movie for kids, “Rally Caps,” is the kind of warm, fuzzy, but also poignant family movie that America needs more of.
Based on the novel by Jodi Michelle Cutler and Stephen J. Cutler, “Rally Caps” nails the bitter-sweetness of the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s American childhood, very similar to Charles M. Schulz’s “Peanuts” comic strip. By that, I mean it manages to capture the nostalgia of an all-encompassing, good-with-the-bad, no-helicopter-parenting, no-soft-landing childhood. Back when a little bit of bullying and classmate-shaming were just par for the course. Just like there’s no light without darkness, when looking back on childhood, it’s the painful things that make the good times stand out.
The Tale
“Rally Caps” tells of one small lad, Jordy (Carson Minniear, extremely adorable), whose dreams of pitching for Little League are so fervent that he routinely lies on his bed practicing fly-ball catching; tossing the ball up to the ceiling and catching it, in excess of 2,000 repetitions per session.
His dreams are obliterated when a batter loses control, and the windmilling bat traverses home plate to the pitcher’s mound at a high rate of speed and cracks Jordy in the schnoz. Broken bloody nose-geyser!
This was the straw that broke the camel’s, er, nose. Jordy also happens to be mourning the recent death of his dad; his revered big brother Rob (Ben Morang) moving away, and now this face-altering bat-trauma. Jordy’s done with baseball! He retreats behind the post-surgery protective mask, and never wants to take it off again.
Summer Camp
Jordy heads to summer camp. Even though it’s a sports camp with lots of baseball, and even though he treasures the pitcher’s mitt his late father gifted him, he’s committed to quitting.
He immediately befriends cabin-mate Lucas (Colten Pride), who is deaf and who just had a cochlear implant surgery. Lucas is a catcher, and, per the historically long relationship of pitcher and catcher—the two baseball positions that symbiotically combine into one football quarterback—Jordy learns from Lucas how to deal with his fears. He soon returns to the pitcher’s mound.
But it’s not exactly a bouncing back! The road back is fraught with terrible things, like being so nervous on the mound that there’s loss of bladder control, accompanied by the howling delight of the (Peanuts) peanut gallery! Remember that stuff? It was just so horrifying for the kid involved. But lows lead to highs.
Performances
“Rally Caps” has a warm and sincere throwback feel due preeminently to relative newcomer Carson Minniear’s acting chops. At that age, acting is often less acting than being, and what you see is what you get. Minniear is basically Charlie Brown.
Charlie Brown—also a pitcher—loved baseball more than life itself, was regularly shamed on the mound by Violet, Patty, and of course Lucy, and often ended up being “the goat.” That was back before “goat” culturally morphed into it’s opposite; the modern “G.O.A.T.” (Greatest Of All Time). Back then, being the goat just meant you were a supreme loser.
Charlie Brown was always hanging his head in shame. But when the school bell rang, he was out the door for some more baseball! Jordy as a Charlie Brown archetype is the heart of “Rally Caps.”
Overall
This well-made indie film offers effective performances from all three generations portrayed, generously delivering a positive outlook while gently teaching universal life lessons.
What lessons? It empowers children to bounce back from setbacks, gain confidence in themselves, and always strive to keep hope alive. “Rally Caps” has a Jordy-in-a-Field-of-Dreams dream sequence, and this movie debuted in the actual Field of Dreams. We all know from “Field of Dreams” (1989) that sports can re-connect families even in the afterlife, and this family film might just call in your family’s ancestors, to watch over your shoulders and chuckle in your ear, while viewing.
