GLOVE Catches The Healing Power of Sports
When they're done right, sports movies are entirely infectious. What's not to love? Audiences get to vicariously experience not only the thrill of the game but also the many inspiring montages of training and coaching and learning. Unfortunately, sports films also get fairly easily dismissed as being overly formulaic and/or predictable to a fault as they tend to fall back on a narrative involving a player stumbling to find greatness again who almost magically achieves it again by the film's conclusion; other characters end up serving as little more than set dressing to the big league player - the die-hard champion who can't bring himself to quit the sport because he's personally lost, over-the-hill, or just plain bad for it.
To its credit, GLOVE kinda/sorta takes the routine - yes, there's a ragtag team needing help; yes, there's a major league pitcher slowly making his way back down the ladder; and, yes, there's a comely young lass who watches it all through the shimmer...
A Mesmerizing and Touching Film...
Sang-nam is a renowned baseball star with a quickly failing career, especially after his most recent drunken altercation. Sang-nam is given the opportunity to redeem himself by coaching a hearing impaired high school team, and he reluctantly agrees. Glove is a mesmerizing and touching film.
The story in this film has been done before; the story and character arcs are very familiar. A reluctant, grumpy down on his luck athlete, an opportunity for redemption, an underdog team shooting for the stars, etc.; but, does that make it any less compelling? Of course not. The story is deep and will hit home for many viewers; it's motivational, as well as thought-provoking. Some scenes will make you laugh, some scenes will make you angry, and some scenes will make you cheer. The performances are all feel very authentic, which add to the emotion. The ending of the film is memorable, and may even be a bit unexpected for some viewers. The music in the film was great, really matched the...
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