Full Count throws the viewer a 12-6 curveball. It starts out as if it’s a Field of Dreams-like baseball movie, in which a young phenom from the sticks takes the sports world by storm and rides preternatural ability to the big leagues and the Hall of Fame. But then, just like the aforementioned breaking pitch, the bottom falls out—for both Milton Young, the main character, and the viewer. And what we have here is a tale about how a little faith and hope can get you out of the worst bases-loaded, nobody-out jams of life.
It gets bad for Milton. After pitching his high school team to the state championship, landing a college scholarship and becoming the new team’s top starting pitcher, life takes him deep. His father dies of a heart attack, no doubt brought on by the stress of trying to keep a failing farm afloat. The starting pitcher, whose job Milton took, ends up committing suicide off-screen. And Milton is involved in an apparent DUI hit-and-run accident that lands him in the hospital, with his scholarship-winning arm damaged by a career-ending injury. The viewer doesn’t see the accident until much later in the movie.
But a stranger named David, an apparent drifter looking for work, appears on the scene. Though Milton and his mother don’t have the resources to hire David, especially with the farm in such peril that creditors are coming to take it, David won’t take money—or “no” for an answer. He starts helping out, and it soon becomes clear that his abilities go beyond those of the normal handyman, which is pretty convenient when the woman injured in the accident dies and Milton is in jail, facing vehicular manslaughter charges.
The most important thing David brings is hope, showing Milton that when life is viewed through the lens of hope, things aren’t always as bleak as they appear. The movie gives the viewer a bit of a not-so-joyous joyride to get there, but it’s worthy of a Dove-Approved Seal for Ages 12-plus.
The Dove Take:
Faith in your fastball is one thing, but faith that’s better than your fastball—or whatever natural ability you lean on in life—is what produces an abundance. Full Count has a nice way of teaching us that, from the clubhouse to the jailhouse and to the farm house.
