The Hill (2023 film)

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This article is about Baseball player Rickey Hill. For the 1965 prison drama starring Sean Connery, see The Hill (1965 film).
The Hill (2023 film)
File:The Hill 2023 Poster.png
Theartical release poster
Directed by Jeff Celentano
Produced by <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
  • Jeff Celentano
  • Warren Ostergard
Screenplay by <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
Based on <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
  • A treatment[1]
    by Bill Chaffin
  • A screenplay[1]
    by
    • Stephen Hintz
    • Aric Hornig
Starring <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
Music by Geoff Zanelli
Cinematography Kristopher Kimlin
Edited by Douglas Crise
Production
company
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  • Vitamin A Films
  • Rescue Dog Productions
  • Piney Pictures
Distributed by Briarcliff Entertainment
Release dates
 <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
  • August 25, 2023 (2023-08-25)
Running time
 126 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Box office $7.7 million[2]

The Hill is a 2023 American biographical sports drama film about baseball player Rickey Hill overcoming a physical handicap in order to try out for a legendary major league scout. It was directed by Jeff Celentano from a screenplay by Angelo Pizzo and Scott Marshall Smith. It stars Dennis Quaid, Colin Ford, Joelle Carter, Randy Houser, Jesse Berry, Bonnie Bedelia, and Scott Glenn.

The film was released in theaters by Briarcliff Entertainment on August 25, 2023.

Premise

Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. In a small town in Texas, a young Rickey Hill wears leg braces due to a degenerative spinal disease, but enjoys playing baseball. His strict father and a pastor dissuades Rickey from baseball, wanting to shield him from further injuries. A few years later, Rickey becomes a "baseball phenomenon." However, when he wants to try out for a legendary major league scout, it divides the family.[3] He eventually signs with the Montreal Expos in 1975 and plays four seasons before his spine gives out.[4]

Cast

Production

In August 2021, Deadline reported that Dennis Quaid joined the cast of the sports drama film The Hill, with Jeff Celentano directing from a script by Angelo Pizzo and Scott Marshall Smith. It was produced by Celentano with Rescue Dog Productions and Warren Ostergard of Vitamin A Films.[7] Quaid plays Pastor James Hill while Colin Ford plays his son Rickey Hill.[8] Celentano said, "I'm setting out to make an iconic film in the classic sense, a beautiful sweeping and powerful inspirational story. One that will stand the test of time like Blindside, Rudy, Field of Dreams and The Natural. Dennis was the first and only person I thought of for the lead role upon reading the script."[9] The Hill was Smith's final film before his death in December 2020.[9]

Principal photography took place in Augusta, Georgia and the surrounding Columbia County region from November to December 2021.[10] Other locations included the Lake Olmstead Stadium and Central Savannah River Area.[8] The historic Wrightsboro Church in McDuffie County was used to depict a 1960s era church in rural Texas.[11]

Music

Music and primary score was composed by Geoff Zanelli.[12] The end credits features Randy Houser's 2022 single Rub A Little Dirt On It.[13]

Track listing
No. Title Length
1. "The Hill"   2:18
2. "Young Rickey"   1:58
3. "Zero Smoke Breaks"   2:29
4. "That's Gonna Be You One Day"   1:56
5. "False Idols"   0:59
6. "You Do Not Deserve James Hill"   1:00
7. "Goodbye"   1:31
8. "The Heaven I know"   2:28
9. "I Stay Down Here, I'm Dead"   1:41
10. "Calm Your Mind"   2:38
11. "Dreaming of the Majors"   1:53
12. "Consequences"   2:41
13. "Off He Goes"   1:02
14. "Sure You Ain't Cheatin'?"   3:10
15. "Don't Wanna Make You Suffer"   5:12
16. "Operation Rickey Hill"   1:38
17. "You Are Gonna Paralyze Him"   1:50
18. "It'll Take Time"   2:16
19. "Bring Down Goliath"   3:12
20. "I'll Prevail"   2:16
21. "Breakin' Windshields"   2:44
22. "How Many Miracles Do You Need?"   2:24
23. "Go Get 'Em"   1:44
24. "It's Your Time"   2:26
25. "Designated Hitter"   2:05
26. "Get Up"   3:48
27. "Father and Son"   3:45
Total length:
 63:04

Release

The Hill was released in theaters by Briarcliff Entertainment on August 25, 2023.[14] It was originally set to be released earlier on August 18.[6]

Reception

Box office

In the United States and Canada, The Hill was released alongside Gran Turismo, Retribution, and Golda, and is projected to gross $2–3 million from 1,570 theaters in its opening weekend.[15] The film made $800,000 on its first day.[16]

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 43% of 35 reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.6/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Solid work from Dennis Quaid helps elevate The Hill, but this fact-based underdog drama is only intermittently inspirational."[17] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 48 out of 100, based on four critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[18] Audiences polled by PostTrak gave the film an 80% positive score, with 58% saying they would definitely recommend it.[16]

Frank Scheck of The Hollywood Reporter gave a mixed review, criticizing the slow pace and "extraneous subplots". He praised the writers, saying "Angelo Pizzo and the late Scott Marshall Smith inject plenty of warmth and humor into the tale, never letting the characters overly succumb to stereotypes" and "Fortunately, the film also includes enough light-hearted humor to compensate for its corniness".[19]

G. Allen Johnson writing for the San Francisco Chronicle gave a negative review. He criticized the script as being a "cliched" Hollywood biopic, elaborating "The Hill is meant to be inspiring, of course, and to some, it might be, but the vibe is more reassuring in the way that it does not deviate from the standard-issue formula of such movies. It is a cinematic case of confirmation bias, designed to fulfill preexisting values and beliefs". He described Celentano's direction as "a Rockwellian postcard vision of midcentury small-town American South, where even the rusty cars and run-down houses have a golden nostalgic glow".[20]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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