Stream It Or Skip It: ‘The Hill’ on Netflix, A Faith-Based Sports Drama About A Disabled Boy Who Wants To Play Baseball

Now streaming on Netflix, the sports drama The Hill follows a young boy with a disability as he aspires to be a professional baseball player, but is discouraged by his religious father. The story is based on the real life of Rickey Hill, who was signed by the Montreal Expos in 1975 and played for four years until his spine went out. 

THE HILL: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

The Gist: The Hill follows Rickey Hill (Colin Ford) as a young boy through teenhood as he decides to play baseball and overcomes additional huddles due to his degenerative spinal disease. However, Rickey’s father Pastor Hill (Dennis Quaid) is overprotective and doesn’t support him playing the sport.

To keep his son in line, Pastor Hill challenges Rickey’s devotion to their Christian faith due to his new interest, and insists he can only choose one path.

As the movie continues, Rickey’s brother Robert (Ryan Dinning) joins him at baseball tournaments and even convinces him to forge their father’s signature for try outs. The Hill matriarch Hellen (Joelle Carter) is silently supportive and expresses such through longing glances and encouraging her husband to be more open-minded. Her mother also lives with them, but choses to take a more adamant stance against the pastor’s prejudice. 

Through all of this, the Hill family faces other issues, such as being booted from a small town due to a disagreement at the church, struggling with money, and a family death. When everything comes to a tee, will Rickey be able to make a living as a professional baseball player? Will he get scouted for the big league? Will his father ever watch him play?

What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: The Hill will remind you of other faith-based dramas that take place in the South and are based on true stories, such as The Blind Side and Hillbilly Elegy.

Performance Worth Watching: Joelle Carter steals the scene as Rickey’s mother Hellen Hill, particularly in the third act which occurs after she suffers a major loss. While often portrayed as an obedient pastor’s wife, Carter quietly elevates her character through her building rage and unwavering love for her sons.

Memorable Dialogue: Rickey tries to explain to his father why baseball is important to him. Drawing a parallel to his Christian faith, he says, “When I swing that bat, I ain’t crippled anymore… I am David taking down Goliath.” His father shuts him down, causing Gram to step in, “Don’t you dare run that child down. Give him his say, he’s earned it.” The pastor fights back, “You stay out of it, this ain’t none of your business.” To that, Gram puts him in his place. “My business is the family that you’ve turned into sheep… Hellen and the kids, they love you so much that they let you suck all the joy out of their lives and I’m too old and mean to stand by another minute while you make your misery theirs.” Finally, someone said it!

Sex and Skin: None.

Our Take: The Hill is a fine, yet unchallenging, drama. The movie plays up its core conflicts in ways that don’t entirely land – partially due to its weak script and the lack of stakes beyond “eternal damnation,” or whatever it is the Hill family thinks will happen if they don’t devote their every living second to God and the man of their household? 

The dialogue leaves much to be desired in all aspects, but particularly in its attempt to cement a love story that never gets a chance to blossom beyond the couple proclaiming every time they’re on screen that they’re a couple. 

Beyond those points, the performances were solid and Rickey’s optimism will inspire viewers just as much as the Pastor’s stubbornness will leave them seething.

 Our Call: Why not? If you’re into this genre, STREAM IT. The movie’s story is cliché and rather preachy, but it isn’t bad. Rickey’s story is important and engaging… whenever viewers aren’t being weighed down by the pastor’s repetitive prejudice against his family and community.