Talent for the Game (1991)

Yawn. Poorly Filmed Snooze Fest.

Sick Product of a Sick System

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

What stood out for me was the first half of the film, which has collected a number of apocryphal baseball scouting stories (read "Prophet of the Sandlots" and "Dollar Sign on the Muscle" where some of them appear in print). Edward James Olmos is quietly effective as veteran scout Virgil Sweet, traveling across the country evaluating prospects in an assortment of the usual and unusual places. But the story becomes formulaic as Sweet finds the Holy Grail of scouting: a heretofore unknown pitcher with all the tools to become a superstar in the big leagues. Although Sweet is employed by the Anaheim Angels, the ending is all Hollywood. While not in the pantheon of great baseball movies, it is an enjoyable way to spend 90 minutes.

I read everyone's reviews and they were all pretty accurate. Each person will take something different from this movie. If you ever wanted to be a pro ball player you might relate more to Virgil's character and desires. Overall I gave it a strong numeric rating due to Olmos' unsung performance and Bracco's. Traditionally this is the basically a repeated story but the twist in this is the scout's desire to essentially play one time in the majors and feel the glow of the experience. That is a bit of a different perspective than what has been utilized in the past. The rest of the story and supporting cast are just that, supporting. But they do it well to make a rather enjoyable film. I would certainly put it in my top ten of baseball related movies with a strong human element intertwined throughout the storyline.Enjoy.

This movie is really low key throughout, slow with interesting characters (with the exception of the billionaire owner). Olmos steals the show as the scout, and Bracco is just wonderful as his significant other.I found the movie compelling and captivating, more about character development than plot, and subtly and richly portrayed by the two most important members of the cast, Olmos and Bracco. The climactic game and the ending are a bit disappointing, but still this movie ranks among my favorite sports films. One thing that really helps the movie is that Corbett has a believable motion and throws reasonably hard. The baseball scenes are pretty good. in large part because some of them were shot at actual big-league games and spliced in. That's better than having bad actors trying to play ball, I think.

One of the better movies made involving the scout finds the "phenom" and takes him to the majors. Olmos is superb in this little movie. He brings that aura that he had in Stand and Deliver. Good supporting cast for such a low budget.