'Perfect Game' has that after-school special feel

The title "The Perfect Game" kinda gives away the ending, don't you think?

This independent drama, directed by William Dear, tells the true story of Mexican ballplayers who won 13 straight Little League games and went on to win the league's 1957 American World Series, which, as the title suggests, was a perfect game.

This movie throws no curve balls. Everything from the direct, functional dialogue to the superficial, easy-to-grasp characters reeks of an across-the-plate, made-for-television after-school special for kids.

The screenplay, written by W. William Winokur from his own book, serves up its politics with earnest sincerity. Racism is bad. Being optimistic and a self-starter is good. Working together gets you farther than working alone. Belief in God is good, too.

"The Perfect Game" is clearly intended for young audiences, and keeping that in mind, it succeeds on most counts, especially during an awkward, tacked-on romantic subplot, treated with a pre-adolescent mix of embarrassment and bemused mystery.

At the beginning of "The Perfect Game," we meet Cesar (Clifton Collins Jr.) quitting a professional American ballclub out of exasperation. Back in his Mexican hometown of Monterrey, Cesar goes to work in the local steel company.

One day, a young boy wakes Cesar up by throwing a baseball against the side of his shack. One thing leads to another, and because Cesar says he has coached an American ball team, he reluctantly agrees to coach the new Monterrey Little League team.

The team receives support and blessings from Padre Estaban, played by Cheech Marin. (Who from the baby boomer generation would have ever guessed that the Hispanic half of the drug-obsessed, counterculture comedy duo Cheech and Chong would be playing a priest in a 2010 movie?)

The idealistic, die-hard players are a cute and cuddly crowd consisting of Jake T. Austin, Mario Quinonez Jr., Moises Arias and several others. They're practically flibberty-gibbetted when Cesar's eyes drop on the lovely Maria (a rather stilted Patricia Manterola) like a long fly ball.

Director Dear has mostly created TV shows and movies for young audiences. He is best known for his 1987 feature "Harry and the Hendersons," a boy-and-his-dog adventure, although the boy is John Lithgow and his dog is Bigfoot.

Much of Dear's work possesses a subtle gentleness. That comes across here as he ratchets down the darker elements of realism in "The Perfect Game" without condescending to kids.

Cesar has a secret (nothing savvy viewers can't figure out ahead of time) that factors into the plot, which pushes the movie's message to kids that dreams can come true with hard work, and that racism can be overcome with hard work and a lot of patience.

Louis Gossett Jr., playing a lowly ballfield grounds keeper, pops into the movie around the halfway mark to illustrate another kid movie chestnut: that people are seldom exactly what they appear to be.

No, Gossett doesn't play an angel, although Dear also directed the 1994 remake of "Angels in the Outfield."

It, like "Perfect Game," isn't a home run. But at least they're both base hits.

<p class="factboxheadblack">"The Perfect Game"</p>

<p class="News">★★</p>

<p class="News"><b>Starring:</b> Clifton Collins Jr., Cheech Marin, Jake T. Austin, Louis Gossett Jr., Bruce McGill, Frances Fisher</p>

<p class="News"><b>Directed by:</b> William Dear</p>

<p class="News"><b>Other:</b> An IndustryWords United release. Rated PG. 118 minutes</p>