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I don't know who would be disappointed by this movie more, someone who hadn't read the book and therefore would be completely confused as to what was going on, or someone who knew the original material, and could see how badly it was turned into a movie. The headlong rush through elements of the story make this film difficult to watch. While all movies that are based on books must by necessity eliminate certain subplots, the decision to reorder the events in the story, and make some elements out of whole cloth, are the earmarks of a bad project. And chopping the last bit off, just to set up a sequel? Disgusting. This movie actually made my wife angry.

The opening voice-over, in which the viewer is simply told elements that took the reader chapters to appreciate, is a punch in the stomach to anyone who read the book, and insults the viewer as well. I imagine this was added later on, when the clumsy filmmakers realized that their product had action that conveyed no meaning.

Visually, the movie is an achievement—the design of the sets, costumes, characters, and action is wonderful. And the casting is good—the characters do well with the parts that they are given. However, the lousy screen writing and directing doom this project.

I should have walked out of the room when I realized the premise was that the 1932 New York Yankees were the hapless victims of a plot by the dastardly owner of the Chicago Cubs. When this movie was being made, Cubs fans were looking back at nearly a century of futility. The decision to go with that plot is the first sign that the creative minds behind this project lack sensible perspective. I am not a Cubs fan, but a much better movie (and message) would be about a Cubs fan trying to help his team in the face of tough odds.

The many glaring historical and factual errors in this movie also made it difficult to watch. Even my ten year old daughter noticed that, in one scene, home plate was oriented the wrong way. During a World Series game.

I am not going to go into the problems with the plot, the mixed messages given about the challenges children face and how they might overcome them, and bizarre perspective on risk--other reviewers have covered that. I will say that the characters of the parents were presented with less depth than found in the Sunday comics. And for some reason, the worst villains in the movie are redheads.

I laughed at some of the visual comedy. My son laughed at the snot jokes.