It is no secret at this point that I will watch just about any baseball movie. One Hit from Home came out eight years ago, and I was totally left in the dark about it. Lucky for me, Pure Flix recently added this film to its library and I couldn’t wait to watch it.
Without sounding all melodramatic, this particular baseball movie was one of the best I’ve ever seen. I loved this story for so many reasons. This film is a great story of redemption. Our main character, Jimmy Easton (David Aaron Stone), had it all and then with one twist of his knee, he lost it all. After the loss of his parents, this was probably the most heartbreaking experience of his life. When he returns home, he winds up coaching a high school team against his will.
It was so much fun to see him checked out at every game. It was a modern-day version of Jimmy Duggan (Tom Hanks) from A League of Their Own. Unbeknownst to him, he’s got a player on his team who could play professional baseball right out of high school.
Despite getting off on the wrong foot, Jimmy can turn things around and bond with the players, everyone that is except Brandon (Johnny Meier). Through hard work, these two finally connect and end up best friends. When Brandon’s life crumbles, Jimmy is there to share his past experiences and be the rock he needs.
We could have probably predicted all these things to happen throughout the film. At the same time, though, this wasn’t as predictable as you would expect. So many unfortunate events haunt our main characters that you can’t help by hold back the tears. I enjoy the chemistry these guys shared on and off the field, which made the story so engaging.
Some movies have great characters and terrible stories of working with. One Hit from Home gave their characters a great story about faith, healing, and the bonds of the ball diamond. 8/10
Ten Stars or Less 