Keanu Reeves and Diane Lane star in this modern and uplifting story about baseball and kids. This is no comedy like Bad News Bears and the themes presented are of a very serious nature. The performances by Reeves and Lane are a bit stiff; the superb acting job goes to the young actors who play on Reeves team.

Reeves plays a desperate gambler whose time is running out for him. He sees an old friend who is supposed to manage a little league baseball team in the heart of Chicago's housing project. He must coach the team to get the money to pay off his debt before he's toast. At first, Reeves is totally disinterested in this task, but as the weeks go by, he starts to connect with the kids, their plight in this violent part of the city, and their struggle to survive. A beautiful fifth grade teacher (Lane) also helps him stay motivated with the team. As Reeves struggles to pull off one more big time bet, he comes to terms with his own predicament with the help of Lane and the kids and they head towards the championship game. Reeves is still playing the tough guy role in this film, even around the children. Lane, whose credits include "The Perfect Storm" and "My Dog Skip" is totally wasted in this film and really doesn't have that many scenes.

Picture-Excellent picture transfer for this new film from Paramount. Interesting photography is used during some of the game highlights, with unique camera angles following the runners and other players. The scenes around the project are also very well portrayed and frightening. Sound-A good Dolby 5.1 digital soundtrack with a modern musical soundtrack is used to great effect in the film. We are not overwhelmed by rap music throughout-only when it is appropriate. Effects and action sequences make good use of the surround system and the discreet channel mix has solid imaging for a home theater system.

Audio commentary is provided on a separate track by director Brian Robbin and writer John Gatins. The disc also contains three short deleted scenes form the film, a making of featurette, a music video from Lil Bow Wow, Lil Wayne, Lil Zane and Sammie. A trailer rounds out the special features

The film itself is inspiring and has a very uplifting message but falls short with its stars performances. The writing and directing talents are first class. The kids are charming when they want to be and foul mouthed at other times. They are not the Bad News Bears. Technically the disc is flawless and Paramount does an excellent job in picture and sound. Extras are a bit short but any extras from Paramount are a bonus. This film is worthy of a rent for baseball fans. Rent this and Bad News Bears for a good comparison is styles and cultures.