Home Run Showdown

2011

1 hr. 34 min.

Kids & Family

Comedy

List

Reviews

35%

100+ Ratings

Audience Score

Two Little League teams feed off the two coaches' sibling rivalry and do battle in the outfield of the home-run derby.

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Premiered Apr 30

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Audience Member

This movie was magnificent! I loved it so much. The actors did such a great job. The only flaw would be that the cover for the movie looks completely horrendous. But other than that, I love it! Amazing plot, amazing acting, amazing movie.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/26/23

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Audience Member

It follows the standard sports drama formula and uses all the cliches, but I didn't mind it. The main kid was kind of obnoxious. Otherwise, it was decent for a low budget direct-to-video movie. (First and only viewing - 7/10/2015)

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/19/23

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Audience Member

Very cute movie! Almost like the Little Giants except its baseball. Not much comedy tho but a cute movie.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/17/23

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Audience Member

I demand that Matthew Lillard make baseball movies for all eternity, that way I'll never see him in theaters again.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

02/11/23

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Audience Member

Thought this was a family movie. Lots of cursing by all. Bad flow but descent acting

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

01/28/23

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philip s

Home Run Showdown is a "hit" for families. But it is in itself not a home run. One part Bad News Bears (the 1976 original, not the most recent remake), one part Mighty Ducks, and one part Little Giants (just on a baseball field), this story mixes the standard underdog sports story with the family split plotline that's seen in Little Giants(1994). On the surface, the comparisons to The Bad News Bears (1976) are far too obvious. Just as in that original baseball flick, a young ragtag group of baseball players is led by a washed up ex-minor leaguer to great heights. Matthew Lillard (Scooby Doo, Scooby Doo 2) fills the shoes of the late great Walter Matthau this time out. The Bad News Bears isn't the only movie from which this movie very liberally lifts. Just as Rick Moranis and Ed O'Neill went toe to toe in the pee-wee football movie, Little Giants (1994), so do Lillard and co-star Dean Cain (Lois & Clark: The Adventures of Superman) here. To their credit, the feud between Joey and Rico is very believable. The sibling rivalry between these brothers is very real. There are so many families out there today who still suffer great rifts because of something that happened many years ago. And as angry as Joey gets at Rico at some points, some older audiences may just be waiting for Joey to punch out Rico. Audiences will love to hate Rico. And that audiences will so love to hate him shows that Cain did his job. At the same time, watching Joey (Lillard) grow from not caring what he was doing to really caring about the whole team will make older audiences cheer for him that much more. At the same time, his lack of drive early on will make audiences want to hit him on the head and tell him to get up just as much as the kids on his team wanted. Just as Rico made audiences hate him, Lillard's ability to garner an emotional response from viewers means that he did his job, too. In the same vein, Barry Bostwick (Spin City) is just as believable as the brothers' frustrated father. Lillard, Cain, and Bostwick did a wonderful job in this movie. The trio carried it on its own. But they weren't the only cast to make the movie worth a watch. Supporting actor Wayne Duvall was just as despicable as Commissioner Simpson. In Simpson, audiences see a man who was stuck in his old ways, doing everything he could to keep a girl off of a baseball team, and basically keep the Cubs down for his own personal biases. While he wasn't a major player in the cast, Duvall's portrayal of Simpson added that much more enjoyment to the story, as there are sadly still people like Simpson out there, too. Home Run Showdown may not be the most original sports movie ever written. But it does boast a cast that makes for a lot of heart. It makes for enough heart that it's worth at least one watch. Home Run Showdown is available in stores and online now on DVD and blu-ray.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

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Oz Scott

Director

Matthew Lillard

Joey Deluca

Dean Cain

Rico Deluca

Annabeth Gish

Michelle

Barry Bostwick

Big Al

Wayne Duvall

Commissioner Simpson

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Mark Olsen

Los Angeles Times

A pleasant if somewhat by-the-numbers family film that lacks any real crack-of-the-bat energy.

Rated: 3/5

Aug 30, 2012

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Tom Long

Detroit News

An 8-year-old brain will probably think it's fine. All other brains, pass.

Rated: C-

Jul 26, 2012

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Tracy Moore

Common Sense Media

Mostly family-friendly sports flick dabbles in stereotypes.

Rated: 3/5

May 2, 2013

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Synopsis

Two Little League teams feed off the two coaches' sibling rivalry and do battle in the outfield of the home-run derby.

Director: Oz Scott
Screenwriter: Tim Cavanaugh, John Bella
Production Co: Secret Handshake Entertainment
Genre: Kids & Family, Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 6, 2015

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