THE SAINT OF SECOND CHANCES

Here's the decision. Morgan Neville — the Oscar winner behind 20 Feet from Stardom and Won't You Be My Neighbor? — has made another superb documentary, and this one is a joy. It's the story of Mike Veeck, a baseball man who lost his way, found his marriage, and built a life out of giving other people second chances. It's funny where you don't expect it and moving where you least expect it.

The catch is small but real. Two "f" words push this to a TV-MA rating (the equivalent of an R), one on-screen crude word appears briefly, and the first half is thick with images of casual drinking. That last one is honest, not glamorized — Mike openly admits the alcoholism that nearly ruined him.

So: if you have teens and up, and two profanities won't sink the evening, this is a warm, worthwhile watch. For younger kids, save it for later.

Mike Veeck grew up in the long shadow of his father, Bill — the legendary White Sox owner famous for the wildest stunts in baseball history. Hired as "The Owner's Son," Mike carried a weight he couldn't shake.

When his father sold the team, Mike was left with no direction and drifted into alcoholism. Then he met his wife, who saw an inventive mind others had missed and dared him to build a legacy of his own. What he built — a scrappy independent team, outrageous promotions, and a habit of signing players everyone else had given up on — is where this story really begins.

Four stars, and they're earned. This is filmmaking that knows exactly what it has: hilarious archival footage of the Veecks' wacky ballpark promotions — including a "Disco Sucks" night that drew 100,000 people and detonated into total chaos — braided into a story with real emotional heft.

Neville's gift is the turn from laughter to tenderness without whiplash. The comedy of the stunts sets up the weight of what follows: Darryl Strawberry's improbable rebound from a wrecked career, and the heartbreaking, luminous account of Mike's daughter, who went blind from a rare disease and died in her twenties. Beautiful, funny, touching, and extremely entertaining — the review's own words, and they fit. There's nothing here to apologize for on craft.

This is, at heart, a story about redemption — and it honors much of what Scripture honors. Its whole engine is the second chance: the drifting son given a new start by a faithful wife, the disgraced ballplayer given a roster spot, the man born without legs given his shot at the game. Grace, offered to people the world had written off, is the film's beating heart.

Family runs just as deep. Mike's sobriety begins with his marriage. And in the film's most affecting thread, he drops everything to be present for his dying daughter and to become the father his son never had. This is repentance made visible — a man turning from ruin toward the people he's meant to love.

The film's outlook is largely moral and even Christian in its instincts, with only a light streak of romantic idealism — the confidence that dreams simply come true. It leans on human resilience where a believer would name grace by its true source, but the shape of the story points home all the same.

Underneath every second chance in this movie is the deepest one: the God who makes all things new. "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come" (2 Corinthians 5:17).

This one's a gift: funny, warm, and quietly profound, from one of the best documentary filmmakers working. Two "f" words and a season of hard drinking keep it out of reach for the youngest viewers, but for teens and up it's a beautiful sit. Our answer stands: worth the trip — ages 13 and up.