"One of the most important things in life is showing up."

Rating: 7/10 (4 April 2009)

This is the story about Connor O'Neal(Keanu Reeves), a guy with a big gambling debt. He makes his living by scalping tickets and then making bets. In order to pay off his debts, he goes to an old friend who works at a big broker firm. Instead of giving Connor money, he gives him a job coaching a bunch of troubled kids in a rundown Chicago neighborhood. He is very resentful and judgemental at first, but he becomes very attached to the kids. He becomes somewhat of a father figure for many of the kids since, as Kofi says, "Where I come from, don't nobody's father ever come back." Anyway, despite several tragic events, the boys go on to play in "the ship." I enjoy movies that invoke a certain emotional feeling inside one's heart. This movie definitely produces those feelings.