Summer Catch (2001)

A rich girl whose family summers on Cape Cod has a romance with a local poor boy who hopes to become a major league baseball player.

Director:

Michael Tollin

Writers:

Kevin Falls (story), Kevin Falls (screenplay),

Stars:

Freddie Prinze Jr., Jessica Biel, Fred Ward

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Freddie Prinze Jr.	...	Ryan Dunne
Jessica Biel	...	Tenley Parrish
Fred Ward	...	Sean Dunne
Matthew Lillard	...	Billy Brubaker
Brian Dennehy	...	John Schiffner
Jason Gedrick	...	Mike Dunne
Brittany Murphy	...	Dede Mulligan
Bruce Davison	...	Rand Parrish
Marc Blucas	...	Miles Dalrymple
Wilmer Valderrama	...	Mickey Dominguez
Corey Pearson	...	Eric Van Leemer
Christian Kane	...	Dale Robin
Cedric Pendleton	...	Calvin Knight
Gabriel Mann	...	Auggie Mulligan
Jed Rhein	...	Pete (as Jed Robert Rhein)

Storyline

Ryan Dunne, a nice high-school kid, who works hard mowing lawns for dad Sean's firm, is caught between loyalty to Sir, who cynically believes neither of his sons will even climb the social ladder, and big brother Mike, who scolds Ryan's lack of ambition to go all the way to be recruiter for for a baseball college scholarship, which Mike had to abandon due to a wound. To complicate matters, he falls in love with a snob client's daughter.

---

Plot Keywords:

baseball | rivalry | cape cod | baseball player | love | 

---

Taglines:

Are you game?

---

Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance | Sport

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for sexual content, language and some drinking

Details

Official Sites:

Warner Bros.

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

24 August 2001 (USA)

Also Known As:

Hot Summer

Filming Locations:

Cape Cod, Massachusetts, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$34,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$7,018,593 (USA) (24 August 2001)

Gross:

$19,693,891 (USA) (26 October 2001)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros, Tollin/Robbins Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

108 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Marc Blucas' character can be seen wearing a Wake Forest baseball cap early in the movie. It is black with a yellow "WF" on the front. Blucas actually attended and played basketball on a full scholarship to Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem North Carolina. He started along with Tim Duncan there.

---

Goofs

When Miles catches the fly ball that causes him to leap over the outfield wall, this is recorded as an out. This is correct. The result of the play is an out, not a home run. MLB rule 7.04(c) states, "If a fielder, after having made a legal catch, should fall into a stand or among spectators or into the dugout or any other out-of-play area while in possession of the ball after making a legal catch, or fall while in the dugout after making a legal catch, the ball is dead and each runner shall advance one base, without liability to be put out, from his last legally touched base at the time the fielder fell into, or in, such out-of-play area."

---

Quotes

Sean Dunne: Mr. Parrish. Remember my son Ryan?
Ryan: How are you doing?
Rand Parrish: Fellows, could you do me a favor and not park on the main driveway? Just use the service drive from now on. Thanks.
Sean Dunne: I drove by the Chamberlains'. I thought you were going to do their lawn.
Ryan: I had practice.
Sean Dunne: How's the coach?
Ryan: I told you not to talk to him.
Sean Dunne: I didn't.
Ryan: Someone told him the story about Mom dying.
Sean Dunne: Maybe someone's trying to help you.
[...]

---

Connections

References Wing Commander (1999)

---

Soundtracks

"Every Time She Walks"
Written by Miles Zuniga, Tony Scalzo, Joey Shuffield and Britt Daniel
Produced by Sean Slade and Fastball
Performed by Fastball
Courtesy of Hollywood Records

User Reviews

The worst movie I have ever seen - and that's saying something

I did not plan to comment on this movie. In fact, I planned to stay as far as possible away from anything remotely concerning it. But after seeing comments praising it I feel I must say something.

This film is like three different films. A mushy teen romance that not even I (a teenager) could fall for, a sports film, and a porn film - none of which seem to be connected in anyway. My friends and I went to see this because a friend of mine loves Freddie Prinze, Jr. She spent days apologizing profusely for it.

We can't talk about plot holes because there is not a plot to find holes in. Perhaps a more feasible exercise would be to try and find the places where it made sense. The dialogue was corny and crude by turns - jerking back and forth between the two with no apparent attention whatsoever. Trying to summarize the story now in my head, I can't do it.

I am not a big fan of sports, but I do like sports movies. I love Tin Cup and it doesn't even take much inducement for me to watch The Mighty Ducks once in awhile. But in Summer Catch, even to someone who understands the game (what was it again? baseball?) would be entirely lost.

The sex scenes, inserted at random moments are so perverse that I will not go into detail. Just thinking about them now makes my skin crawl. Of course the thought of Freddie Prinze, Jr. in a thong doesn't help matters much. (If you're a teenaged girl you might think differently - trust me, from one teenaged girl to another it's not a pleasant sight.)

The theater was practically empty except for my group of friends and another group of people whom we knew who happen to be actresses (I go to an arts school). We were all shell-shocked for weeks afterward, and any time we come even close to the subject of bad movies, this one is always first to come up. After leaving the theater, we told everyone we could find, "We just saw the WORST movie ever made."

One good thing - I laughed more in it than I've ever laughed in anything. The writing, acting, directing, editing, even the costumes were bad. Amidst my revulsion, I simply couldn't help laughing, it was so horrible.

Any respect that I may have had for anyone involved in this movie has gone down 100%.

I gave it 1/10 but it deserves less. And by the way, my friend doesn't love Freddie Prinze, Jr. anymore.