Reception
The film has received mixed reviews. Patrick Goldstein of the Los Angeles Times said he felt that "the film did a nice job of telling the story of the surprise upset when a youth ball team from Monterrey, Mexico, won the 1957 Little League World Series." He also commented that, "although the story seems like a fable, it reflected true events." He further expressed concern over Lionsgate's suspending the original release date. Ben Apatoff of MLB.com felt that the film was a strong family movie that appeals to baseball history buffs or any person who could relate to a child in love with the game. Roger Ebert wrote: "You sort of know how these underdog sports movies turn out. Doesn't matter. The Perfect Game so expertly uses the charisma and personalities of the actors, especially the young ones, that it's thrilling anyway."
A. O. Scott of At the Movies said, " the second minute of the movie I knew every single thing that was going to happen and there was not a single surprise." Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune wrote, "The movie feels fradulent, whether it's sticking to the historical record or going its own way with the customary composites and revisions and fabrications." The film ranking website Rotten Tomatoes reports that 54% of critics have given The Perfect Game positive reviews, based upon a sample of 39.
Read more about this topic: The Perfect Game
Famous quotes containing the word reception:
“I gave a speech in Omaha. After the speech I went to a reception elsewhere in town. A sweet old lady came up to me, put her gloved hand in mine, and said, “I hear you spoke here tonight.” “Oh, it was nothing,” I replied modestly. “Yes,” the little old lady nodded, “that’s what I heard.””
—Gerald R. Ford (b. 1913)
“He’s leaving Germany by special request of the Nazi government. First he sends a dispatch about Danzig and how 10,000 German tourists are pouring into the city every day with butterfly nets in their hands and submachine guns in their knapsacks. They warn him right then. What does he do next? Goes to a reception at von Ribbentropf’s and keeps yelling for gefilte fish!”
—Billy Wilder (b. 1906)
“But in the reception of metaphysical formula, all depends, as regards their actual and ulterior result, on the pre-existent qualities of that soil of human nature into which they fall—the company they find already present there, on their admission into the house of thought.”
—Walter Pater (1839–1894)