Review of Calvin Marshall (2009) by Matthew G — 22 Nov 2010

Heart. One word that means so much, not only in this movie, but in every aspect of life. Anybody can be a great athlete, musician, politician, or teacher, but the really, really great ones stand out because of their heart.

From Bill Russell to Jack White to Abraham Lincoln to my 10th grade Biology teacher Mr. Miller, they all had heart and were separated from their peers because of it. And if you have heart, sometimes you don't have to have all the talent in the world, as is the case with Calvin Marshall.

Calvin is played by 23 year old Alex Frost, whom you may (or may not) remember from Gus Van Zandt's Elephant, or the main bad kid from Drillbit Taylor. Here he plays a, lets face it, a pretty terrible baseball player, but with hopes and admirations of being a professional baseball player.

The other problem is, he's been cut the past three years by his junior college baseball team. But this year is different, and he manages to pull at his Coach's heartstrings and talks him into sort of being on the team.

Coach Little sees a bit more in him than his assistant coach, but knows that he'll never quite make it. Steve Zahn is down right amazing in his portrayal of a former Minor League player, settling for a coaching job because even he wasn't good enough for the Majors.

If anybody knows what it takes to get there, its Coach Little, as he attempts to prepare Calvin for options in case he can't get there either. But Little wasn't quite prepared for the "heart" that Calvin proves he has and Calvin wasn't quite prepared to fall in love with the new star volleyball player, Tori Jensen.

Tori is played by Michelle Lombardo, a very tall, beautiful brunette who got her start in the Adam Sandler film Click. Tori has turned down several 4-year offers from major universities to stay home with her parents as her Mother is sick and dying.

This for me, was one of the more sad things I remember seeing lately. I couldn't help but tear up as she sat by her Mother's side getting her drinks and being there for her. Eventually Calvin and Tori start to see each other and finally hook up, but Calvin has fallen in love with her.

Sadly for Calvin, Tori doesn't feel the same. Everything in his life seems to have taken a turn for the worse. But when the worst is presented in front of us, those with heart have the ability to power on and see things through.

And like I've said, Calvin definitely has heart! The ensamble cast also features Jeremy Sumpter (Sasquatch Gang), Andrew Wilson, Diedrich Bader (!) and the always lovable Abraham Benrubi in great supporting roles and Gary Lundgren writes and directs his first feature film.

With all those parts all working in unison, its no wonder this film works on so many levels. Ross has done it again!