The Perfect Game
Short description
Set in 1957, The Perfect Game follows a group of boys from Monterrey, Mexico, who travel north to compete in the Little League World Series and become the first team from outside the United States to win the title. The story centres on a former baseball player who returns home after his own career in the major leagues is cut short, and who takes charge of the young squad alongside a local priest. The journey across the southern United States brings racial prejudice and other obstacles before the team reaches Williamsport, Pennsylvania, for the decisive game. The film is based on a true story.
William Dear directed the film from a screenplay by W. William Winokur. It sits near the end of the run of features Dear made between 1986 and 2009, which also includes Harry and the Hendersons, Angels in the Outfield and Wild America. Jake T. Austin leads the cast as Angel Macias, with Jansen Panettiere, Moisés Arias, Ryan Ochoa, Gabriel Morales and Carlos Padilla among the young ensemble; seventy performers are credited in all.
The production had a budget of 13 million US dollars and took about 4 million dollars worldwide. On IMDb it holds a rating of 6.9 from roughly 4,600 votes, while on TMDB it stands at 7.3 from around 210 votes, so the smaller TMDB sample is the more favourable of the two.
What's left behind the scenes
- Due to major funding problems, work on the film was interrupted for several months shortly after filming began. After the necessary funds were found and filming resumed, it turned out that many of the children had grown so much during that short period that all scenes involving them had to be reshot urgently.
- The film's premiere, scheduled for August 8, 2008, in the American theatrical release, was disrupted because LionsGate studio did not receive the funds due to them under the contract for the project's advertising campaign.
- Initially, Clifton Collins Jr. declined the offer to play Caesar; he did not want to appear on screen again as a Latino out of fear that he would only be offered similar roles in the future. The role went to another actor, but he did not satisfy the producers, and they turned to Collins again.
- The film utilized numerous black-and-white shots from the documentary film “Los pequeños gigantes” (1960).
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
