The Most Perfect Ever Coming-Of-Age Comedy Is What You Need Now On Netflix

Written by Robert Scocchi | Published 39 seconds ago

Roger Ebert summed it up perfectly The sandlot When he said that “this movie seduced me with its memories of what really matters to you when you’re 12,” I can’t think of a better way to describe it. Literally nothing happens The sandlot Meaning the boys at its center are living their lives and playing baseball. For them, though, everything is a life-changing event because they’re kids on summer vacation, there’s a scary dog ​​lurking behind Mr. Myrtle’s fence, and they want to play ball all day as if their lives depended on it.

I don’t say this as an indictment The Sandlot Abstract story structure, but as a way to celebrate it. It’s fun and carefree, and although you might look at the title cynically as an adult, no other film brings back memories of the days when you felt like insignificant moments defined your entire existence. Just like real life, sometimes the plot doesn’t matter. However, the memories you make while your parents leave you wandering the neighborhood, not expecting you to come home until the street lights come on, are priceless.

The boys and the monster

The sandlot The film centers on a young man, Scotty Smalls (Tom Geary), whose early years are narrated by an older version of himself (voiced by writer-director David Mickey Evans). Scotty, a shy new kid in town, feels like an outsider but befriends Benny (Mike Vitar), a boy who eats, sleeps, and breathes baseball. The rest of the gang, Ham (Patrick Rinna), Yeah Yeah (Marty York), Kenny (Brandon Quinton Adams), Squints (Chauncy Leopardi), Bertram (Grant Gilt), and brothers Tommy (Shane Obedzinski) and Timmy (Victor DiMattia), are reluctant to let Scotty join their baseball clan, but Benny vouches for him and slowly teaches him how to master the game.

Boys’ adventures The sandlot It’s all about playing baseball, talking trash, and trying to impress girls, so the stakes are pretty low when you’re watching from an adult’s perspective. However, for the child, these are crucial moments that test their will and teach them valuable lessons about facing fears, finding confidence, and causing a ruckus in the neighborhood when their antics extend beyond the sandlot.

The primary conflict that ties it all together is the recovery of an autographed baseball from Scotty’s stepfather, which he accidentally smoked over the property line of Mr. Myrtle (James Earl Jones), where a vicious dog known only as “The Beast” guards the backyard. The boys need to devise a plan to get the ball back and escape the wrath of the monster, which is almost mythical in their minds.

Nothing ever happens, and that’s the point

It’s easy to criticize slice of life, like coming-of-age movies The sandlot Because nothing much happens on the surface. Adventure is mostly on the minds of children because they have not yet had the opportunity to experience the world the way their cynical adult counterparts have. The only thing that matters is to play the game and learn something about themselves as their bond becomes unbreakable.

There is no real discount in The sandlotjust feelings and a kind of youthful activity that reminds you of a time when the biggest struggle of your life was jumping a fence to get past a dog or trying not to puke on a carnival ride after eating too much chewing tobacco in an attempt to look cool.

Sometimes you just need a reminder that the simple things in life are worth celebrating. As long as you have your buddies by your side and you share a common goal, it’s easy to lose yourself day by day because when you’re a kid these days it feels like forever. A family-friendly reminder that you may not realize you’re living in the good old days until they’re gone, The sandlot The film plays out exactly as you remember it, without any real climax or conflict, but with a lot of fun being in the moment.

The sandlot It is streaming on Netflix.