Young Brown, the hero of CHASING DREAMS, has problems. He just doesn't fit in. Girls aren't interested in him. At school, he sleeps through lectures on Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea. His father, Shane, never sees eye to eye with him on anything, and his loving little brother, Clark,
is confined to a wheelchair. Just when it seems time for Brown to pack it all in and become another teenage suicide statistic, however, fate steps in in the form of his school's baseball coach, Fife. This wise, lonely old codger sees a natural batting talent--largely the result of Brown's
experiences chopping wood on the family farm--in the troubled boy, and soon, thanks to America's favorite pastime, Brown's life begins to come together. His abilities even begin to attract the attentions of some big-league scouts, as well as a sweetheart (Kingston). Shane, however, just can't seem
to grasp the notion that playing ball might be more fulfilling (not to say more profitable) than working one's own land with one's own hands, and the conflict between father and son causes everything to fall apart. Eventually, on his way back from a promising meet with the scouts, Brown learns
that his little brother has died. He loses it and becomes a walking catatonic. A happy ending is provided, however, when the beauty of life and baseball pierces through his depressed fog, he hits the winning homer, and the family goes home together, presumably to inhale apple pie.
Filmed in 1981, CHASING DREAMS is every bit as treacly and derivative as the synopsis above would imply. Its myriad faults are even more glaring when compared with the best baseball film ever made, BULL DURHAM, whose richly humorous, satirical, and informed script; sexy and witty performances; and
immaculately timed direction are totally absent from this pathetic effort. (BULL DURHAM and FIELD OF DREAMS star Kevin Costner does make an appearance here, which may be presumed a major reason for the film's belated video release, but his role is basically a cameo.) Since it was obviously made on
a shoestring and perhaps even con amore, one might hesitate to criticize a film like CHASING DREAMS too heavily were it not so unforgivably amateurish. As it is, however, David G. Brown must bear most of the blame, for he is not only the film's star, but its coproducer and writer as well.
Onscreen, his scarecrow physique and lack of grace make him the most unconvincing athlete since Anthony Perkins played Jimmy Piersall in FEAR STRIKES OUT, and his acting is so inexpressive that when his character suffers an emotional breakdown, the change barely registers. The baseball scenes are
also unconvincing, clumsily staged and edited for full falsifying effect--all choppy takes--with none of the cerebral quality, free-flowing grace, movement, and strategic intrigue that define the sport at its best. The addition of a ROCKY-style inspirational musical theme only worsens matters,
while the use of the younger brother's handicap as a plot device to jerk tears is offensive. leave a comment
