The Sandlot




If you were thinking, you wouldn't have thought that.

One of the true measuring graces of a family movie is how well it goes over with the whole family. It shouldn't appeal to just the kids and vice versa. Fortunately, The Sandlot takes this into account.

The story takes place in small town America during the early 60's, where Scott Smalls (Tom Guiry) has just moved to. He doesn't immediately make friends. It's the beginning of the summer, so he follows around a group of local kids to their baseball field. Eventually, he becomes friends with their leader, Benny (Mike Vitar), and he learns how to play baseball and a whole lot more.

The summer yields many an amusing scenario. There's youthful idolizing taken to whole new heights at the public pool. There's the show down with the preppy versions of the sandlot kids. And there's the creature next door to the sandlot that the kids have nicknamed the beast. This monstrous dog ends up getting Smalls into a lot of trouble. This descript covers the broader topics, but it doesn't do justice to how much fun they are.

While some instances are done in a fairly non original manner, there's an undeniable spark of fun that goes with everything. The story is all relayed via Smalls' voice over, recounting the affairs with an added spin of humor and honesty. The kids form a hilarious band. Stock characters are resorted to, but with the likes of Patrick Renna and Chauncey Leopardi, it's hard to really fault them for doing it.

Even while the kids are reveling in some of the escapades the sandlot crew embarks on, the adults will be laughing right along with them. A good deal of the humor is aimed at them, but it's really the generation memories that are most effective. This movie perfectly portrays an innocent side of the 60's, complemented by a great production and excellent music selection. More than a few parents have commented how this movie is "just" how it was back then.

The cast is predominated with kids, and they don't do all that badly. Tom Guiry is pretty good as the geeky new kid, capturing the right sense of awkward sympathy. For the most part the rest of the crew manages to give their characters the right air of adolescent humor, not easy when some of them have pretty minor parts.

Imagine this film as something like A Christmas Story. It possesses the same sort of nostalgia that isn't always the most accurate representation of the era, but it's warm and entertaining all the same.



-The Gnome