Director: Raymond De Felitta
Writer: Robert Bruzio (Screenplay)
Starring: Sofia Vergara, Joe Manganiello, Denis O’Hare, Burt Young, James Madio, Michael Rispoli, Xavier Scott Evans
Plot: After serving 17 years in prison for a violent mistake he made in his youth, a once-aspiring baseball player returns to his Bronx neighborhood.
Runtime: 1 Hour 51 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: Bottom of the 9th starts when Sonny Stano (Manganiello) gets released from prison after a mistake in his youth, now he sees the world has changed. His parole officer Lonergan (O’Hare) puts him in a job, sets the rules for him to start a fresh, but Sonny’s love of baseball draws him towards his old life.
Sonny gets offered a chance to help his former team from Coach Hannis (Rispoli) to help rookie player Manny (Evans) get focused, but he will need to earn his respect before Manny will listen to anything he says, before he gets the chance to relive the chance he never got.
Thoughts on Bottom of the 9th
Thoughts – Bottom of the 9th is a sports drama showing that people will make mistakes in life, but sport can be around to help give people another chance, even if people aren’t so forgiving. This story will put a focus on Sonny trying to put his life back on track, as well as becoming a mentor for a hot-headed young player. Now all of the basics for a sports drama are in here and they are done well, but we could easily have dived down some of these ideas to a deeper level, to make certain moments have a bigger impact. The mentor side of things doesn’t go into enough, it should have gone a lot deeper, the revenge from the brother of his victim is always in the background, but never addressed in a strong enough manner. While the second chance is left in a position where it was always going to end one way, it could have been stronger to go in a different direction. This is a story that had so much more potential, it ends up checking the basics only. The performances are strong in the film with Joe Manganiello and Sofia Vergara both doing a great job. If you are looking for a basic sports drama, this is an easy watch to make it through.
Final Thoughts – Bottom of the 9th is a by the book easy to follow sports drama.