The Hill is based on a true story about Rickey Hill (Colin Ford) who, as a child, was born with many different struggles. He was born basically unable to walk and had to wear braces up until about nine years old. And it is his dream-struggle-victory story on how he overcame those obstacles to be able to become a great baseball hitter.
The Hill is basically a Christian-adjacent, if not Christian-centered, kind of a movie. Rickey is the son of a pastor who is totally convinced that instead of following his dream of being a baseball player, God has called Rickey to be a preacher of some kind. And it takes him most of his life to be able to convince his father, no, that’s not what I want to do. Now, Rickey had overcome a lot in his life, and by watching it, it’s… it’s a lot. Throughout this whole time, he’s taught himself how to hit baseballs and he was a very strong hitter. And when he was in high school, he was actually very close to being part of the Major League. It’s during this time that he ends up getting injured again, and he has to decide, “Is this really my goal and my dream, or do I have to quit and start something else?” His father James, played by Dennis Quaid in here, you have a lot of the dynamic of the movie, is the father and son trying to resolve itself throughout this story.
In all, I felt like the story itself was very inspirational. If everything is as it was presented, if that’s really his story, then wow, you’ve overcome a lot. And who doesn’t love seeing a good dream-struggle-victory story that makes us all feel like you can do the impossible in our own lives, depending on what our dreams and goals are?
As a practicing Christian, nothing in this movie was at all offensive to me. And even compared to other Christian films, I thought that this was well done. But that’s not a very high bar since Christian films tend to get in the way of themselves and try to push the message so much that they end up forgetting the actual story. The Hill didn’t fall so much into that trap. More strategic editing choices could have shortened it quite a bit because it was kind of slow. And there were just moments where they were repeating the same talking points over and over and beating a dead horse.
Rickey’s story is amazing. While he never really was the best hitter and he never made it to the big leagues, it’s still inspiring to see exactly where he came from and motivates you overcome your own trials in your own ways. I left The Hill feeling very happy, uplifted, and fulfilled.
★★★
