The Final Season is a 2007 baseball film starring Sean Astin, Rachael Leigh Cook, Tom Arnold, Powers Boothe, Brett Claywell, Michael Angarano, and Marshall Bell and directed by David Mickey Evans. The film wrapped production in 2006 in Shellsburg, Iowa, and Cedar Rapids, Iowa, 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 in New York City, New York. The film also premiered in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on October 7, 2007.

Plot

The true story of Kent Stock (Sean Astin), who in the early 1990s, takes the job of a lifetime as head coach of the Norway High School baseball team, a school which had won 19 State titles and equated baseball with life. Kent must win over his players and convince them 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 an impending merger with a nearby school.

In the summer of 1991 Norway High's baseball tradition ended on a triumphant but somber note.

The film depicts the Norway school district merging with the "Madison school district". Norway actually was consolidated into the Benton Community School District. The girl who sang the national anthem is the real-life daughter of former major league pitcher Mike Boddicker, who played for Norway High.

Cast

• Sean Astin as Kent Stock
• Rachael Leigh Cook as Polly Hudson
• Michael Angarano as Mitch Akers
• Powers Boothe as Jim Van Scoyoc
• Tom Arnold as Burt Akers
• Brett Claywell as Patrick Iverson
• Marshall Bell as Harvey Makepeace
• Danielle Savre as Cindy Iverson
• Jesse Henecke as Principal Halberstorm
• Larry Miller as Roger Dempsey
• Roscoe Myrick as Sammy
• Angela Paton as Ann Akers
• Nick Livingston as Kevin
• Ryan Flood as Baseball Player #4
• Nick Schmitt as Baseball player #5

Reception

The Final Season received mainly negative to mixed reviews from critics. On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a "Rotten" rating of 25%, based on 40 reviews. On Metacritic, the film had an average score of 44 out of 100, based on 15 reviews, which indicates "mixed or average reviews". The film grossed $1,159,691 in the USA.

Production notes

• Sports action was by Rob Miller of ReelSports.
• Amy Acker and Eliza Dushku were at one point cast in the role of Polly, but both dropped out because of scheduling conflicts.

References

External links

• Official site