Mr. Mertle's blindness feint; the director's narration; no breakout star; Karen Allen's faded weight; the parenting; steak on a black eye; overly elaborate erector set; unconvincing Babe Ruth; color end photo; the Wendy Peffercorn kiss
Mr. Myrtle's 'you went blind' line plays as a feint where 'you're black' was expected, and the film is called whitewashed.
The Negro Leagues history could have been addressed in about 30 seconds. — Bill Simmons
The setting is said to be the San Fernando Valley though filmed in Utah; race and the era of segregated pools go unaddressed. — Mina Kimes
The narrator is bad because it is the writer-director; someone like Tim Robbins should have been hired, and half the lines are about the biggest pickle. — Bill Simmons
No cast member became a breakout star, unlike a movie with a future star as sixth lead. — Bill Simmons
Karen Allen as the mom mattered more in 1993, 11 years after Raiders of the Lost Ark; the stepdad actor is now better known. — Bill Simmons
The parenting: the stepdad ignoring Smalls's requests to play catch, and the mother making him feel like a loser for being smart and calling him an egghead. — Mallory Rubin
Smalls might have founded a tech company without the pressure to play baseball; instead he became an announcer, perhaps with invention income on the side. — Mallory Rubin
Smalls's father died; the stepdad barely engages and is angry when called dad. — Bill Simmons
Putting a frozen steak on a black eye would never happen now. — Bill Simmons
The erector set catapult seems too elaborate for 1962. — Bill Simmons
The Babe Ruth dream actor does not seem like Ruth, and his Field of Dreams role lingers. — Bill Simmons
The host's son's pick: the end photo of the kids would not be in color in 1962. — Bill Simmons
Roping the lifeguard into a kiss, grabbing her head and tricking her would not fly today, and the narration adds to the cringe. — Mallory Rubin
The pool sequence follows the Fast Times tradition later homaged in Stranger Things, but its conclusion does not age well. — Mallory Rubin
The ending's marriage-and-nine-kids wink and the boys saying she knew what she was doing feel emotionally beyond such young kids. — Mina Kimes
John Hawks picking the bitter, chain-smoking woman at the crow's nest is inexplicable, especially her appearance at the funeral after one bar conversation. — Bill Simmons
Clooney's plan to drive through the storm is likened to Mike D'Antoony in a playoff series and later to a late-period Philly coach; the hosts say that in the movie, the captains on both boats are basically dooming them. — Bill Simmons
The Coast Guard plot with Cherry Jones, Bob Gutten and Karen Allen has no setup and pulls away from the boat; it is called the biggest flaw, as if from a version about the whole storm. — Chris Ryan
The first 45 minutes invest in the Andrea Gale crew, so the shift to the rescue story is surprising; the movie is about the six guys on the boat, not the Coast Guard. — Chris Ryan
The film is thought to be set in 1991, but no Red Sox, Clemens or a Patriots preseason game appears on the bar televisions, which bothers a Massachusetts viewer. — Bill Simmons
Called the all-time record list: "Bert" Reynolds declined Edward and in 2012 said he made a mistake after seeing the love-making scenes. — Bill Simmons
Al Pacino turned down Edward after a screen test with Roberts; that movie does not work. — Bill Simmons
John Travolta auditioned, and had turned down American Gigolo, which made Gere a star. — Bill Simmons
Read as half-assed internet research: Gere was about to turn the part down when Roberts slid him a "please say yes" Post-it; the hosts doubt it. — Bill Simmons
Gere turned down Gordon Gecko in Wall Street; Michael Douglas is floated for this movie, and Robert "Radford," who did a similar role in Indecent Proposal five years later.
Molly Ringwald turned it down and regrets it; Diane Lane nearly played Vivian but pulled out over scheduling; "Michelle Fife" turned it down. — Bill Simmons
Several other actresses allegedly turned it down, which the hosts do not believe. — Bill Simmons
