War Eagle, Arkansas

Based on a true story, War Eagle, Arkansas reminds viewers that sometimes smaller dreams are more worth pursuing than the grander ambitions that other people might urge on their behalf. Enoch (Luke Grimes), a talented pitcher on a small-town baseball team, is also a bundle of contradictions: good at the sport, but his heart isn't really in it. Enoch loves to stargaze and read poetry, but he also counts on a weeknight ritual of watching professional wrestling with his best friend, Wheels (Dan McCabe). Both young men have disabilities: Enoch stutters, isolating him from peers, while Wheels is confined to a wheelchair with cerebral palsy. Both characters are also at a crossroads: Enoch can easily land a baseball scholarship and go to a big university, but he's deeply ambivalent about leaving his roots and is newly in love with a terrific girl named Abby (Misti Traya). Wheels wants a life and is angry he might be forever stuck at home with his mom (Mary Kay Place). Brian Dennehy is wonderful as Enoch's grizzled grandfather, who's perhaps living too much through the boy's potential, and Mare Winningham and James McDaniel bring a soulful authenticity to their small supporting roles. But Graham Gordy's screenplay is a little too pat in defining characters through their respective likes and dislikes (Enoch, in particular, doesn't feel entirely three-dimensional). Still, Grimes and McCabe's strong performances, coupled with Robert Milazzo's solid direction make this a strong optional purchase. (T. Keogh)