Critic Reviews

• Ben Sachs, Chicago Reader

  [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

• Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times

  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.

• Frank Scheck, Hollywood Reporter

  Hard-hitting sports doc examines the darker side of the recruitment of young baseball players in the Dominican Republic for the major leagues.

• Ronnie Scheib, Variety

  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.

• Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal

  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.

• V.A. Musetto, New York Post

  A documentary narrated by John Leguizamo that provides a seldom-seen look inside the training camps run by MLB in that impoverished nation.

• Cynthia Fuchs, PopMatters

  The dynamic here suggests what's at stake for Miguel and his family.

• Brent Simon, Shared Darkness

  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.

• Ron Wilkinson, Monsters and Critics

  Although this film is a "must see" for baseball aficionados, its narrow scope takes it out of the big leagues.

• James Verniere, Boston Herald

  Can you say 'Moneyball' en espanol?

• Marsha McCreadie, Film Journal International

  Ballplayer: Pelotero answers the question on some sports fans' minds-Why is it that 20 percent of American professional baseball players are Dominican?-by tracking the rise (and sometimes fall) of hopeful young players in the Dominican Republic.

• Alison Willmore, AV Club

  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.

• Christopher Campbell, Movies.com

  An interesting film that requires you to think about where and from whom statements are coming from and consider the ideas and speculative accusations appropriately.

• Chuck Bowen, Slant Magazine

  The doc is a sly, interesting achievement: It opens as an entertaining sports story and closes as a metaphor for government corruption.

Read all 14 critic reviews