The trope is probably as old as sports movies themselves. An underdog overcomes insurmountable odds with a combination of talent and grit. The problem with Choi Yun-tae's Baseball Girl is it doesn't really highlight the talent of its star athlete -- pitcher Joo Soo-in (Lee Joo-young) -- or reveal a perseverance that's especially impressive: She snubs a teacher (Lee Chae-eun) in an amateur league, leaves the gym when a reporter approaches, and keeps trying to perfect a fast ball that's admittedly sub-par.
Once her new coach Choi Jin-tae (Lee Joon-hyuk), a former baseball player who failed to make it in the majors, takes an interest in her, the story gets marginally better. But Baseball Girl oddly never takes off in part because it lacks any love for the actually sport. We rarely see Soo-in in action during a game. Her training sequences are far from impressive. I, for one, kept thinking she needs to get a haircut to get her bangs out of her eyes as much as she needs to perfect her knuckleball. Teammate Lee Jeung-ho (Kwak Dong-yeon) may see potential. I saw someone who was delusional, selfish, petulant, and mean as well as insecure and undermined by sexism and an unhappy family. Of course, I want to see a woman win in a man's world. I'm just not that excited by this one signing a semi-pro contract.
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