Minniear shines, portraying his character’s frustrations and fear authentically from the first frame to the last. When he rage screams into his pillow shortly after his nose is broken, it does not feel like a simple tantrum but rather the culmination of all his problems coming out at once. Minniear’s chemistry with Pride is quite good, making buying the two as quick friends easy. Pride is a lot of fun as Lucas, being more boisterous compared to the reserved Jordy.
Hirsch and Smart aren’t in the film too much, but they are good as ever. This is especially true of Hirsch, who is as charming as ever. Morang brings a hard edge to Rob, deepening his family issues, which do go unexplored for the most part. The energetic Lowe steals every scene he’s in as “Coach Ballgame.” Nikki Pride, Colten’s real-life sister, portrays his character’s sibling and grounds everything quite respectably.
“Minniear shines…”
But for all those positives, Rally Caps does have a few issues. The minor problem concerns the big game at the end. There are lines from the announcers that only make sense if, presumably, one is deep into baseball. For example, one batter is a “dead pull hitter,” while the bases are “juiced.” Is juiced the new loaded? While minor, they take those not intimately familiar with baseball, like me, out of the film for a second or two.
The other flaw is more significant. Jordy needs to see a therapist, psychiatrist, or counselor as he suffers from various mental health issues. Nora is portrayed as an overworked but very caring mother. So why isn’t this ever brought up, even once? Yes, it can be expensive, but there are ways to offset that price. A throwaway line about the last therapist being a disaster or something along those lines would help offset this.
Still, Rally Caps works where it counts: the friendship between Jordy and his new teammates. The inspirational aspect pulls hard at the heartstrings because Cipolla’s script carefully sets up Jordy and his dilemmas. I’ll be honest: I was absolutely rooting for Jordy and his team during the seventh inning of the championship game. I know you will be too, after watching this well-meaning and well-acted drama.
"…I was absolutely rooting for Jordy and his team..."
