Tonight's Movie: The Hill (2023)

Those wishing for a movie like "they used to make" need look no further than THE HILL (2023), an excellent film about family, faith, and baseball.

The film comes from writers with a great deal of credibility in the inspirational sports genre; one of the three writers, Angelo Pizzo, has credits including HOOSIERS (1986) and RUDY (1993), and cowriter Scott Marshall Smith wrote WHEN THE GAME STANDS TALL (2014). The third writer was Bill Chaffin.

Rather remarkably, the film stars two favorite actors from THE RIGHT STUFF (1983), Dennis Quaid and Scott Glenn. They don't share a scene in THE HILL, but I love the fact they're each in this new film, 40 years on from being part of the ensemble for a film I consider a masterwork.

It's the 1960s, and Pastor James Hill (Quaid) works in small, poor churches in rural Texas. His family consists of his patient wife Helen (Joelle Carter), his scrappy mother-in-law Lillian (a near-unrecognizable Bonnie Bedelia), and three children: Robert (Mason Gillett), Connie (Hailey Bithell), and Rickey (Jesse Berry).

At times the family is barely scraping by; in one memorable scene their dinner consists solely of cornbread. (This struck a chord with me, as my paternal grandfather told me about his family's cornbread meals during the Great Depression in Oklahoma.) The family's challenges include the fact that youngest son Rickey has a degenerative spinal disease and wears leg braces.

Rickey is very smart, and his father aspires for Rickey to follow in his footsteps as a preacher, but while Rickey has his own deep faith, he has a different goal: Playing professional baseball. He has remarkable hitting abilities, but his leg issues, compounded by a severe injury as a high school player (played as a teen by Colin Ford), will make achieving his dreams a challenge.

Going against his protective father's wishes, as the pastor fears what might happen to Rickey playing ball, is also a significant issue.

THE HILL has a beautiful autumnal tone, anchored in the gorgeous cinematography of Kris Kimlin. This is a visually lovely film start to finish. The film also particularly appealed to me as I love baseball and baseball movies.

I loved that there are no "bad guys" and "good guys" in this well-acted film, including Quaid's character, who makes a number of mistakes along the way. Despite tending to ignore oldest son Robert and having definite ideas about what God does and doesn't want, it's always clear that his family loves him. A scene where the children scrape together quarters to buy their father a fast food meal for his birthday is incredibly sweet.

Quaid is no stranger to great baseball movies, having starred in a longtime favorite, THE ROOKIE (2002), a couple decades ago. He is admittedly probably at least a decade too old (69 this year) for the film's earlier scenes, but one could make the case that living a poor, hand-to-mouth existence could wear down a man's appearance. I appreciated his depiction of Pastor Hill's slow path of growth over the course of the film.

I admit to a bit of shock realizing Scott Glenn has become rather elderly; he's currently 84. His clothes and manner of walking in this part reminded me strongly of the way my own grandpa looked and acted in the '70s, when his scenes are set.

Glenn is absolutely marvelous as crochety baseball scout Red Murff, the man who discovered Nolan Ryan. I'd go so far as to say Glenn would rate a Best Supporting Actor nomination from me as the hard-to-read Murff, who's extremely intimidating despite (because of?) his advanced years.

Young Jesse Berry is outstanding playing Rickey as a child; he's one of the more appealing child actors I've seen in recent years. Ford, whose work includes WE BOUGHT A ZOO (2011), is also strong as teenaged Rickey, but it's Berry with his soulful eyes whose performance will stick with me.

Rickey's siblings are played at their older ages by Ryan Dinning and Carina Worm. Rickey's childhood sweetheart Gracie is played at a young age by Mila Harris and as a young woman by Siena Bjornerud. All do a fine job.

Former major league pitcher John Smoltz has a nice role as a commentator during the baseball tryouts sequence.

Late in the film Carter, as Helen Hill, has a moving scene about missing her mother, who "understood." That moment really clicked with me, as the whole time I was watching THE HILL I kept thinking how much my father, who passed on earlier this year, would have loved this movie, with its themes of faith and baseball.

THE HILL was directed by Jeff Celentano. It runs 123 minutes.

Parental Advisory: This film is a straight PG rating, which is fairly rare these days. It's a film for more mature viewers in terms of the characters addressing serious issues over the course of their lives, but there's no reason for a younger viewer not to watch.

The trailer is here.

I'm happy to recommend this well-done film, which is one of the more enjoyable theatrical films I've seen this year.

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