THE MAN FROM LEFT FIELD (1993) ** Another "baseball" movie made by people with no conception of the balk rule. Even more amusing is the protective screen against batting practice cuts by 75-pound ten-year olds. But some say that there are more important things in life than baseball realism, good acting and quality production values, and this film aims for some of them. In fact this film aims for all of them, in such rapid succession that it seems like simultaneous. The only redeeming thing is...and it's very redeeming...well, in addition to the extraordinary ambition of it all, it actually hits some of them. A glancing blow for some perhaps, but better that than a swing and a miss. Burt Reynolds is something between a lobotomized victim of pseudo-science and the Lone Ranger, and he's staggering into town in an effort to replicate the league table success of The Bad News Bears. It's a good role for him, actually, and Burt's always been up for anything and able to pull more of it off than anyone had the right to hope. Reba McIntyre is the love interest, generally abandoned in all the moralizing hoopla, but willing to give up a little peck on the cheek on the first date. By "moralizing," I don't mean in a bad way. It's a just and humble conception of white Southern religion, but one that still can't quite see its way to the light without the redemptive powers of violence. I found it all moving, largely because somebody really tried, but probably also because baseball cards are involved. Powerful symbols in use here, and I hope they make somebody turn good.
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