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Ballplayer: Pelotero
Directed by
Trevor Martin
,
Jonathan Paley
,
Ross Finkel
Not Rated
2011
77m
Documentary
,
Drama
,
and more
7.3
86%
88%
Add to Watchlist
Two top baseball prospects in the Dominican Republic face fierce competition and corruption as they chase their big league dreams.
More
Where to Watch Ballplayer: Pelotero
Hoopla
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Tubi TV
Free
Amazon Video
Rent $2.99
Buy $7.99
+3 more
Cast of Ballplayer: Pelotero
Jean Carlos Batista
Himself
John Leguizamo
Narrator (voice)
Miguel Sano
Himself
Trevor Martin
Director / Producer
Jonathan Paley
Director / Producer
Ross Finkel
Director / Producer
Isaac Solotaroff
Producer
Ballplayer: Pelotero Ratings & Reviews
IndieWire
Tambay Obenson
While riveting to watch... it's actually quite sad and even enraging to watch what plays out like a form of modern day slavery.
TV Guide
Sarah Block
[Ballplayer: Pelotero shows] the contrast between the pure joy of baseball and the hardcore, and often problematic, business that it has become in the Dominican Republic.
PopMatters
Cynthia Fuchs
The dynamic here suggests what's at stake for Miguel and his family.
Shared Darkness
Brent Simon
Illuminating -- gets into the uneasy combination of moral benevolence and almost parasitic business interest that informs non-familial adults helping shepherd poor Dominican kids into pro baseball.
Chicago Reader
Ben Sachs
[The] Directors...try to soften...ugly truths with sentimental stories of teenagers getting signed and pulling their families out of poverty, but the portrait of widespread exploitation overwhelms the intended effect...[ END HERE ]of these subplots
Monsters and Critics
Ron Wilkinson
Although this film is a "must see" for baseball aficionados, its narrow scope takes it out of the big leagues.
Los Angeles Times
Kenneth Turan
It's an eye-opening look at a flawed, potentially exploitative system and how it is being gamed from all sides of the table -- the story of the collision of youthful dreams and a cutthroat adult cartel.
The Hollywood Reporter
Frank Scheck
Hard-hitting sports doc examines the darker side of the recruitment of young baseball players in the Dominican Republic for the major leagues.
Variety
Ronnie Scheib
What gives Pelotero its edge is a nexus of corruption, exploitation and betrayal that transforms this well-shot, cannily edited item into an engrossing expose.
Wall Street Journal
Joe Morgenstern
The next time I see some superstar athlete giving an interview that suggests the absence of a functioning soul, I'll think of the two tense, joyless boys at the center of this quietly devastating documentary.
New York Post
V.A. Musetto
A documentary narrated by John Leguizamo that provides a seldom-seen look inside the training camps run by MLB in that impoverished nation.
Washington Post
David Malitz
An efficient and often-enthralling documentary that follows the plight of two Dominican hopefuls on their path to the major leagues.
New York Times
Neil Genzlinger
We're so used to hearing innocuous clichs come out of the mouths of major leaguers in postgame interviews that the accusations and innuendo in this film are startling.
Seattle Times
Soren Andersen
Full of twists and turns, including use of a spy camera, charges of exploitation of young players and a wrenching betrayal, "Ballplayer" offers a starkly unromanticized picture of the life and times of these particular boys of summer.
San Francisco Chronicle
Peter Hartlaub
A scrappy documentary about teenage ballplayers in the Dominican Republic.
Boston Globe
Janice Page
A well-crafted, bravely revealing little film that could be considered essential education for baseball fans.
AV Club
Alison Willmore
It's a wealth of semi-examined ideas about globalization and a twist on the commoditization of our national pastime, all of which are tumbled out, then largely set aside.
Slant Magazine
Chuck Bowen
The doc is a sly, interesting achievement: It opens as an entertaining sports story and closes as a metaphor for government corruption.
Salon.com
Andrew O'Hehir
A gripping documentary that takes us inside the largely closed world of youth baseball training and recruitment in the Dominican Republic.
Village Voice
Michael Leaverton
An unexpectedly gripping portrait of how MLB's sausage gets made ...
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