Summer Catch: Critic Reviews

The wanly watchable Summer Catch ... could mark the official commencement of Prinze's Nelson-ization.

Figuratively and literally a minor league movie.

Long on cliched plotting and short on exciting ball playing.

When it comes to the plot, well, there are more surprises in a box of crackerjack.

Will Ryan get signed by the majors? Will he win Tenley's heart? If you're even wondering, this movie's for you.

Bull Durham for dummies.

Depending wholly upon the blinkered empathy of daydreamy teen viewers, a typical FPJ movie skims over character, plot, and dialogue.

Summer Catch is supposed to be end-of -summer fun, but it's about as fun as learning to eat your spinach.

Though Summer Catch contains no dazzling special effects, it still pushes the envelope of computer magic in moviemaking. That's because this film is so mediocre and formulaic, it seems to have been generated by a software program.

Neither drama nor comedy, Summer Catch is a long, slow lob of a movie that never crosses the plate.

[An] awful light drama.

Predictable and slight.

Summer Catch has neither the weight nor flying power of a softball.

When it comes to funny business, Tollin's got game, and he makes the most of some talented supporting players on his bench.

Offensively bad teen movie that makes a bore of both baseball and sex.

A half-hearted baseball romance full of weak reminders of better films.

This one, though awkward and derivative, has a modest charm and is not entirely populated with howling simians.

Because I'm a baseball fan, I tend to be an easy mark for baseball-themed movies, but something as badly focused and feebly scripted as Summer Catch just makes me wish for the Fall.

In baseball slang, a 'can of corn' is a high, lazy fly ball to the outfield. The baseball movie Summer Catch is the cinematic equivalent of that can of corn.

Stars Freddie Prinze Jr. (strike one), features more male virgins trying to lose it (strike two) and disses the legendary baseball league in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, by filming this mess in North Carolina (strike three).

The interplay of Ryan's professional and romantic challenges rings true, but unfortunately the writers pile on contrivances and needless distractions that seriously diminish the film's overall effect.

The film steps up a notch when the action is on the field. However, many directors before him have portrayed the beloved sport better.

A baseball movie with no baseball, no movie, and absolutely no love involved.

If this is what the boys of summer are offering, I say bring on football season -- now!