2001, 1 hr 45 min., Rated PG-13 for sexual content, language and some drinking.�Dir: Michael Tollin. Cast: Freddie Prinze Jr. (Ryan Dunne), Jessica Biel (Tenley Parrish), Matthew Lillard (Billy "Bru" Brubaker), Fred Ward (Prinze's Dad), Jason Gedrick (Mike Dunne), Brittany Murphy (Dede), Gabriel Mann (Auggie), Bruce Davison (Biel's Dad), Brian Dennehy (Coach), Marc Blucas (Miles Dalrymple), Corey Pearson (Eric Van Leemer), Wilmer Valderrama ("Domo"), Christan Kane (Dale).

In case you haven�t noticed from my recent reviews (Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, American Pie, Rat Race) I haven�t been in the mood for serious fare at the theater lately. I continue with this trend by seeing Summer Catch.

Reasons to see Summer Catch:
1) Baseball theme
2) Jessica Biel

Reasons not to see it:
1) Freddie Prinze, Jr.
2) Prinze�s track record
3) Sports clich� overload
4) Did I mention Prinze?

Earlier this summer I read a great article (in USA Today, I believe) about the Cape Cod summer league, where collegiate ballplayers bring just their gloves and their dreams in a fleeting shot at attracting the attention of scouts in the hope of being paid to play the game.

This movie does not do that article justice.

Prinze, Jr., plays local boy Ryan Dunne with a golden left arm who mows lawns for his father and screws up whenever he gets a chance to succeed. Mowing down batters several innings in a row, when the pressure is on he turns into Rick Ankiel and can�t find the plate with a beach ball.

If you�re wondering if Prinze has any real talent, I don�t know. This is another baseball movie where we see the pitcher�s motion and then flash to the mitt, in order to keep us from seeing that the actors are throwing 40-mph fastballs.

As for Jessica Biel (�7th Heaven�), I find her incredibly enticing and would pay to see Summer Catch for her alone. Too bad she�s given some lame dialogue and has stoops to having Prinze as a love interest.

In the movie, Biel says - in the most glaring example of her terrible dialogue - that Prinze has beautiful eyes. I don�t know about that. When they cut to a shot of him (in the dark, where you can barely see his fact, let alone his eyes; you can thank first time director Michael Tollin for that), all I see are a couple of black holes, devoid of life and where all personality is sucked out of him. Exactly what does she see in him?

The rest of the lineup you�ll no doubt recognize, but is filled out from the minor leagues, save a few veterans with experience. Meaning you�ll know the face but not the name.

Batting cleanup for the film is Matthew Lillard (Scream), playing Prinze�s battery mate, a southern California surfer who�s just as comfortable in a thong as wearing catcher�s pads, but finds it difficult at first to swing a wooden bat. I know I�m rare, but I actually like Lillard, and his role keeps this film from being completely boring.

Marc Blucas (Miles Dalrymple), better known as Riley on �Buffy the Vampire Slayer�, is more interested in big-boned women in Summer Catch than a demon killer with great abs.

Wilmer Valderrama (Damo), the foreign guy on �That 70s Show,� has but one purpose, to sleep with the town lay, who is also his housemom for the summer. Beverly D�Angelo, I suppose, is trying for that Susan Sarandon in �Bull Durham� style, but only appears on screen for 30 seconds.

Speaking of town whores, Brittany Murphy (Clueless) �s Dede is sure to take D�Angelo�s spot in the rotation in the future. Her purpose is to seduce the guys with skimpy outfits and serve them beer between her knees.

The veteran pickups in Summer Catch include legendary baseball announcer Curt Gowdy doing the play-by-play of the baseball games, Brian Dennehy as the coach, Bruce Davison is Biel�s snobby poppa and Fred Ward fills the shoes of Prinze�s drunken loser father.

14 and 15 year-old boys and girls will like Summer Catch, although I wouldn�t recommend parents letting them since there�s some questionable sexual humor for kids under 17. Older audiences, though, might laugh a few times, roll their eyes a few more, but overall just forget it when it�s over. Although Biel�s bikini-by-the-pool scene is worth remembering, in a pure male pig kind of way.

The verdict:

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