''The Final Season'' is a 2007

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

film starring

Sean Astin Sean Patrick Astin (; born February 25, 1971) is an American actor. His acting roles include Mikey Walsh in '' The Goonies'' (1985), Billy Tepper in '' Toy Soldiers'' (1991), Dave Morgan in '' Encino Man'' (1992), Daniel Ruettiger in '' Rudy'' ...

Rachael Leigh Cook Rachael Leigh Cook (born October 4, 1979) is an American actress and model. She has starred in the films ''The Baby-Sitters Club (film), The Baby-Sitters Club'' (1995), ''She's All That'' (1999), and ''Josie and the Pussycats (film), Josie and ...

, Tom Arnold,

Powers Boothe Powers Allen Boothe (June 1, 1948 – May 14, 2017) was an American actor known for his commanding character actor roles on film and television. He received a Primetime Emmy Award and nominations for two Screen Actors Guild Awards. He won ...

, Larry Miller, Brett Claywell,

Michael Angarano Michael Anthony Angarano (born December 3, 1987) is an American actor. He became known for his roles in the film ''Music of the Heart'' (1999) and the television series '' Cover Me'' (2000–2001), as well as for playing a recurring role as Elli ...

, and

Marshall Bell Archibald Marshall Bell (born September 28, 1942) is an American character actor. He has appeared in many character roles in movies and television. He is known for roles in '' A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge'' (1985), '' Stand b ...

and directed by

David Mickey Evans David Mickey Evans (born October 20, 1962) is an American film director and screenwriter. His films tend to focus on children and the challenges of childhood. A baseball fan, Evans directed and co-wrote ''The Sandlot'' (1993). Life and career Ev ...

. The film wrapped production in 2006 in

Shellsburg, Iowa Shellsburg is a city in Benton County, Iowa, United States. The population was 961 at the time of the 2020 census. It is part of the Cedar Rapids Metropolitan Statistical Area. History Shellsburg was founded in 1854. Geography According to th ...

, and

Cedar Rapids, Iowa Cedar Rapids is a city in Linn County, Iowa, United States, and its county seat. The population was 137,710 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Iowa, second-most populous city in Iowa. The city lies o ...

, and was released in the United States and Canada on October 12, 2007, by Yari Film Group. The film premiered three times at the

Tribeca Film Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by Tribeca Enterprises. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive programming. The festival ...

in New York City. The film also premiered in Cedar Rapids on October 7, 2007.

Plot

This is the true story of Kent Stock, who in 1991 takes on what he perceives as the job of a lifetime as head coach of the Norway High School Tigers baseball team, which has won 19 state titles and has a baseball tradition in Iowa tantamount to that of the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

nationally. Stock joins the team in 1990 as assistant coach, excited to learn from the legendary Tigers coach Jim Van Scoyoc. The Tigers win the 1990 title, the twelfth under Van Scoyoc. Stock is unaware that he has been picked by the school's Principal Halberstorm to replace Van Scoyoc in order to facilitate a losing 1991 season. The principal is pushing a consolidation of Norway with the larger "Madison School District" (in real life, the Benton Community School District), but the town is opposed, centered mainly on not wanting to give up the successful baseball program. The principal only knows about Stock's experience as a girls' volleyball coach, unaware that Stock was a star player for his Division III college baseball team and is a student of the game. Several of the Tigers' returning stars refuse to go out for Coach Stock, who must win over the rest and convince them, the skeptical townspeople and himself that he can fill their former coach's shoes, all while dealing with the reality that this will be the team's final season due to the impending merger. With the support of a young female state auditor whose findings helped push through the merger, and a gadfly baseball writer from Des Moines who is following the team, Kent learns to motivate the team his own way. In May 1991, Norway High's baseball tradition ends on a triumphant but somber note as it wins its 20th state championship in its final season. A video clip of the actual Coach Stock thanking Van Scoyoc publicly for the opportunity opens the final scene.

Cast

as Kent Stock, Norway coach in team's final season *

as Polly Hudson, budget analyst hired to provide support for the consolidation plan *

as Mitch Akers, troubled transfer student and new player *

as legendary Norway coach Jim Van Scoyoc * Tom Arnold as Burt Akers, father of Mitch and former Norway player * Brett Claywell as Patrick Iverson, all-state player *

as Harvey Makepeace, school board supervisor *

Danielle Savre Danielle Savre (born August 26, 1988) is an American actress. She is known for her television roles, such as her lead performances in the 2007 MTV music drama '' Kaya'', the 2016 TLC drama '' Too Close to Home'', and the ABC ''Grey's Anatomy'' s ...

as Cindy Iverson *

James Gammon James Richard Gammon (April 20, 1940 – July 16, 2010) was an American actor, known for playing grizzled "good ol' boy" types in numerous films and television series. Gammon portrayed Lou Brown, the manager of fictionalized versions of the Cleve ...

as Jared (Grandpa) Akers * Jesse Henecke as Principal Halberstorm * Larry Miller as Roger Dempsey * Roscoe Myrick as Sammy Wilson, player * Chris Olsen as Eddie Fitz, player *

Angela Paton Angela Paton (January 11, 1930 – May 26, 2016)Dayton Callie Dayton Callie (born 1946) is an American actor, best known for playing Charlie Utter on HBO's '' Deadwood'', Police Chief Wayne Unser on ''Sons of Anarchy'', and Jeremiah Otto on AMC's ''Fear the Walking Dead''. He has also voiced Whitaker ...

as Mr Stewart, bus driver & school janitor * Kim Grimaldi as Mrs. Stewart * Ryan Flood as Baseball Player #4 * Nick Schmitt as Baseball player #5 Norway team * Nathan Pyan as Baseball Player #10 Norway team * Josh Merino as Reed Ellis, star opposing team pitcher in final game * Chris Jay Becker as Extra (Uncredited) * Ryan Birkicht as Baseball Player #34 Norway Team Tommy Driscoll (Uncredited) * Don Winchester as Barbershop Customer (Uncredited)

Reception

The film grossed $1,159,691 in the USA. On

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, the film has an approval rating of 26% based on 50 reviews, with an average rating of 4.4/10. The critics consensus reads, "''The Final Season'' recycles clichés we've seen in countless other sports movies, making for an unoriginal and uninspiring addition to the genre." On

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, the film had an average score of 43 out of 100, based on 16 reviews, which indicates "mixed or average reviews". John Anderson of

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

wrote: "There's not quite as much corn in The Final Season as there is in the Iowa farm fields that run through it, but it's close." Heather Boerner of

Common Sense Media Common Sense Media (CSM) is an American nonprofit organization that reviews and provides ratings for media and technology with the goal of providing information on their suitability for children.

rated it 3 out of 5 and called it a "Heartwarming-but-trite drama for baseball fans."

Production notes

Amy Acker Amy Louise Acker (born December 5, 1976) is an American actress. She is best known for starring as Winifred Burkle and Illyria (Angel), Illyria on the supernatural drama series ''Angel (1999 TV series), Angel'' (2001–2004), as Kelly Peyton on ...

and

Eliza Dushku Eliza Patricia Dushku (; born December 30, 1980) is an American former actress. Dushku starred as Faith (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Faith in the supernatural Drama (film and television), drama series ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' (1998–2003) an ...

were at one point cast in the role of Polly, but both dropped out because of scheduling conflicts. * Cameraman Roland Schlotzhauer was killed during a helicopter crash while filming a scene in the movie. His Bell 206 helicopter hit a powerline and crashed in a field, killing him and injuring the pilot and a producer. * Scenes depicting the town of

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

were shot in downtown

References

External links