Review of Calvin Marshall (2009) by Steven (Mogi) . — 20 Feb 2012

This one really surprised me. Within the first few minutes, I came pretty close to stopping it and picking a different one from Netflix.

Calvin was a great character to root for, as he stubbornly keeps trying to make the college baseball team. Having no real athletic skills, he quickly becomes the laughing stock of his peers.

The story really develops the three main characters: Calvin, Calvin's coach Doug, and Tori, who plays Calvin's volley-ball-playing romantic interest. The coach really reminded me a lot of my freshman baseball coach, Coach Alvarado. And the chemistry between Calvin and Tori seemed very raw and authentic. I don't think she was smoking hot, but that's exactly how the girls seemed in high school or college.

A great movie, which smoothly juggles the baseball, coming-of-age, and romance elements all in one.