The Winning Season | |
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Written by | Dan Gutman |
Directed by | John Kent Harrison |
Starring |
Matthew Modine Kristin Davis |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language(s) | English |
Production | |
Producer(s) | Lesley Oswald |
Release | |
Original release |
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The Winning Season is a 2004 television film with elements of a fantasy drama. It chronicles a young boy's dream in 1985 with playing with the Pittsburgh Pirates' great Honus Wagner. The film follows the dream to the point where the boy is assisting Wagner in his 1909 World Series duel with fellow hall-of-famer Ty Cobb. It is adapted from the children's novel Honus & Me by Dan Gutman.
The film was made by TNT and first broadcast on April 4, 2004. Modine prepared for his role as Wagner by playing with a minor-league team, the IronBirds in Aberdeen, Maryland, owned by Cal Ripken, Jr..
Variety condemned the film as "schlocky" and sentimental. Their critic found Modine's performance started to wear and Davis brought "little conviction", but praised director John Kent Harrison for the performance he got out of Rendall.