Fist fight. A person with a disability is hit hard with a baseball. Corporal punishment is threatened with a belt, but the action isn't completed. Spousal abuse indicated via a woman's black eye. Bullying behavior includes taunting and name-calling; the person who does this is scolded on more than one occasion.
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Language includes "crap" and "doing our damnedest." A tween says, "oh shiiii---" then changes to "shoot" when he realizes he's in earshot of an adult. "Cripple" is used by Rickey, his father, and others to describe Rickey's difficulty in mobility. Ableist insults directed at Rickey, who wears leg braces to walk, include "gimp," "jelly legs," and "robot boy."
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Rickey Hill demonstrates perseverance, integrity, and humility, as well as strong faith in God and in himself. He overcomes significant physical, financial, and family adversity to pursue his dream of playing baseball. He and his brother and sister are loving, learned, responsible, and are willing to speak truth to power, no matter the consequences. Faith-based audiences may be impressed by the fact that 10-year-old Rickey has an extensive amount of Biblical Scripture memorized and can quote it at will, with understanding of its meaning. Pastor Hill is a loving father and community leader; he becomes too rigid in his own beliefs, but he's able to recognize his own faults/flaws in time.
Positive Messages
a lot
Even when the odds are against you, to achieve your dream, you've got to keep swinging. Also several scripture-based messages, including "I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me."
Diverse Representations
very little
Main character Rickey (played by non-disabled actor Colin Ford) has an unspecified physical disability that requires him to use leg braces to walk. Some people assume that means he's incapable, and he's constantly over performing to prove differently. He's later diagnosed with another condition. According to the movie he is, at least temporarily, cured by miracles. Rickey's family is lives in poverty in rural Texas, and the challenges that come with economic disparity are reflected through the story. Most characters (including all main characters) are White. The exceptions are a kind Black boy who befriends Rickey on the baseball field (and later connects with him as an adult athlete) and a baseball scout. Female depictions fall in line with a 1963 patriarchal point of view: Gram advocates for her nutritionally deficient daughter and grandchildren, and Pastor Hill labels her as a complainer, comparing her to his wife Helen who "never complains" and is therefore a "good wife." Another woman explains that her bruised eye was the result of her sharing her opinion with her surly husband.
Parents need to know that The Hill is a Christian sports drama based on the true story of Rickey Hill (Colin Ford), who defied the odds to play baseball professionally. Faith is central to the story: Rickey's father, Pastor Hill (Dennis Quaid), is a Southern Baptist pastor in small-town Texas in the 1960s, and the Bible is frequently quoted, interpreted, and discussed. Characters frequently smoke and spit tobacco, and someone who's drunk gets into a fist fight when he's stopped from driving. Infrequent language includes words like "crap" and "damnedest," as well as ableist insults ("gimp"). Ricky is the target of bullying and gets hit hard with a baseball. Corporal punishment is threatened, and spousal abuse is indicated via a woman's black eye. The main characters' portrayals offer food for thought/discussion: Rickey demonstrates that while you may "only need faith the size of a mustard seed" to do the impossible, achievement requires perseverance. And Pastor Hill may be a good man and loving father, but his arc also shows that parents need to be open to listening to their kids about the ways they'd like to be supported. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails.
Some of the parental role modeling was very dated however it is based in earlier era thus understandable. Great faith based and inspirational film about perseverance and hard work bot just about baseball but life in general.
What's the Story?
Based on a true story, THE HILL follows Rickey Hill (Colin Ford), who dreams of being a professional baseball player. Rickey is a natural-born slugger, but an unspecified physical disability means that he can't walk without leg braces. His preacher father, Pastor Hill (Dennis Quaid), wants Rickey to put childhood fantasies away, but Rickey has faith that God wouldn't have given him talent if he wasn't intended to use it.
Warm up the apple pie for your movie nibbles, the ingredients of this sports drama are God, baseball, and "old-fashioned American values." Thick with earnestness and devout Christian perspectives, the script -- from the screenwriter of Rudy and Hoosiers-- has a solid structure but is heavy-handed. This is not Christian-lite: It's the faithiest faith film about faith for the faithful. In many ways, The Hill plays into stereotypes and even somewhat perpetuates the attitudes of the era it's set in. And yet by making a "villain" (of sorts) out of Pastor Hill -- a good man who's doing his best to support and guide his family and his community but simultaneously refusing to let his son follow his dream to try to protect him -- it delivers thoughtful nuance. It's not a grand slam, but The Hill is rich with conversation starters. And faith-based audiences will be thrilled to see a thoughtful exploration of scripture.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about how Rickey demonstrates perseverance, integrity, and gratitude in The Hill. Why are these important character strengths? Do you consider him a role model?
What's the point of showing Pastor Hill allow parishoners to smoke in church, even though he doesn't agree with it? Is tobacco use glamorized?
What skills or talent do you have? What purpose do you think it could serve as you grow up?
Do you think this movie is intended solely for Christian audiences? Why, or why not?
MPAA explanation:
thematic content, language, and smoking throughout
Last updated:
September 3, 2024
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Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.
By Tara McNamara
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