Plot Summary
Arthur Murphy manages a minor league baseball team, and he is obsessed with discovering the best talent no one else has discovered yet. Thus, when he stumbles upon Mickey Tussler, a young adult with autism, and sees his raw pitching skills, Arthur tries to recruit him immediately. After convincing his fundamentalist and over-protective father to let Mickey try, Arthur takes him back to the team, where Mickey makes a difference in each of their lives, even Arthur’s.
Production Quality (2 points)
The Nasser brothers have had an unusual film career, but they usually are committed to fine production quality. A Mile in His Shoes is no different, as it has good video quality, camera work, and audio quality. The soundtrack is adequate, and a commitment to historical authenticity is evident in the good use of sets, locations, and props. The only issue to point out here is the fairly choppy editing that hampers the plot presentation. However, in the end, this is not enough to hold this production back from being above average.
Plot and Storyline Quality (1 point)
A Mile in His Shoes is another one of those sports movies that is based on a good true story, yet it is not handled as well as it could have been. This is mainly because the characters therein are too shallow and not realistic enough. They tend to just be stand-ins for plot points rather than real people with real lives. Elsewhere, the storyline presentation is too pedestrian and standard. Also, the Christian message is too vague. As usual for sports films, the plot is replete with montages, and the story is framed as an against-all-odds plot progression. However, although there are a few too many unnecessary asides that waste time, there are plenty of realistic life circumstances in this plot that keep this section from being zero, even if the ending is too predictable.
Acting Quality (2 points)
While Dean Cain is usually a damper on the casts he’s involved in because of his annoying demeanors, pretty much all of the other cast members of this film are fine. For the most part, this cast shows emotions and delivers lines appropriately and adequately, and each cast member is cast well. In short, this rounds out an overall average effort.
Conclusion
All in all, the average rating fits this movie well. It is easy and safe to choose an inspirational and true sports story to make a pedestrian film out of, especially one made for TV. However, it takes greatness and dynamic creativity to make these sorts of stories into truly memorable films. Otherwise, they are just too easily forgotten.
Final Rating: 5 out of 10 points
Box Office Revolution 