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Director: Michael Tollin
Writer: Kevin Falls
Cast: Freddie Prinze Jr, Jessica Biel, Matthew Lillard, Fred Ward, Jason Gedrick, Brian Dennehy
Rating: PG-13
Run Time: 108 minutes
THE SKINNY
Local kid spends the summer trying to make it as a professional baseball player and trying to make it with an upper class hottie.

THE BOTTOM LINE
A teen movie…Freddie Prinze Jr…This one could have been much worse.

THE FULL REVIEW
Although my steadfast support of the underdog has me rooting for Freddie Prinze Jr. these days, I was entirely prepared to hate Summer Catch. In fact, I figured the awful sound of it bombing at the box office would be Hollywood’s wake up call to stop churning out these insipid movies targeted toward the younger crowd. In my review of Bring It On exactly one year ago I said “the film has a few bright moments, but in keeping with the slew of uninspired teen flicks that have raced across screens this past year (Boys and Girls, Down to You, The In Crowd, Gossip), it offers little that will keep it from slipping into the realm of the forgettable.” Little did I know at the time just how uninspired teen flicks could get (see Head Over Heals, Tomcats, Freddie Got Fingered, Valentine, Josie and the Pussycats,….).

Why am I telling you this? Because I generally believe one’s ability to be entertained by a movie is largely a function of having the right attitude and the appropriate expectations when heading off to the theater. Needless to say, despite my hope that Freddie would defy popular wisdom and hit a homerun with Summer Catch (I had to get that in somewhere), my expectations for this film were quite low.

The movie tells the story of Ryan Dunne, played by Freddie Prinze Jr. (Boys and Girls, She’s All That - the best of his movies), who’s trying to make it as a local “walk on” minor league baseball player in the difficult Cape Cod league. The summer season begins to unfold, and in addition to having to impress the big league scouts, Ryan finds himself faced with a slew of challenges. He must strike a balance between the relationships he has with longtime friends played by Brittany Murphy (Clueless) and Gabriel Mann (Outside Providence) and the relationships he forms with his new teammates, most notably with catcher Billy Brubaker, played by Matthew Lillard (Scream, Without Limits, She’s All That). Ryan must also regain a lost familial bond with his father, played by Fred Ward (Henry & June, Remo Williams), and with his brother, played by Jason Gedrick (”The Last Don,” Iron Eagle). But most importantly, Ryan must find a way to hold on to the new girl in his life, the beautiful and wealthy Tenley Parrish, played by Jessica Biel (”7th Heaven”).

So, did I enjoy this movie? No. But, I didn’t hate it either. Sure, the script by Kevin Falls was littered with cliches but it generally steered clear of ripping off Bull Durham and the film’s ending wasn’t entirely predictable. And as long as Jessica Biel is happy to strut in front of the camera in a pink bikini and a wet T-shirt, do we really care if her acting makes Freddie Prinze Jr. seem like Laurence Olivier by comparison? Good thing Ms. Biel has her “7th Heaven” residuals and Gear magazine photo shoots to fall back on. Finally, while I could have done with a little less of the sappy love story and a little more baseball, I guess I was well aware that the Summer Catch title didn’t refer to action on the field.

In the end, the best I can say about Summer Catch is that it didn’t completely suck. And that amounts to high praise for a Freddie Prinze Jr. movie.

HIGHLIGHTS
*The movie was cast with actors that looked like they actually knew how to play baseball
*The movie was cast with some actors that could actually act (Fred Ward, Brian Dennehy, Bruce Davison)
*Some humorous moments from Matthew Lillard

LOWLIGHTS
*The poor acting on the part of the movie’s two leads
*Jason Gedrick’s annoying white trash New England accent that neither his brother nor his father seem to be afflicted with
*A ridiculous subplot involving Beverly D’Angelo (Vacation) as a mysterious seductress (think one part Mrs. Robinson and one part Annie Savoy), who likes to show off her “special talents” to the younger baseball players

OTHER INFO
Nudity: None
Violence: Little
Humor: A few good laughs

Some of Jessica Biel’s Gear magazine pics: