The Magic Inside (amazingly, this film’s title doubles as its own tagline) retells the story of the San Francisco Giants 2010 season, which ended in their winning of the World Series. Actually, the word ‘retelling’ might be a little misleading; it’s more of a replay of it for Giants fans who are still savoring the sweet smell of victory (and, as is the way of sports fans, will be doing so long into the future). Though it is packaged as a documentary, absolutely no one will be confusing this for anything other than what it is: a particularly enthusiastic valentine to a moment in history that curiously resembles one of those live-action sports movies that Disney has been putting out for the last decade or so. Neither more nor less than you would expect, Magic is pitched rather effectively at the fans who will love to talk about (the observations of the interviewees could qualify as thoughtful without too much of a stretch) the nuances of the seasonal narrative without forgetting to savor the excitement and camaraderie that define the appeal of sports in the first place.
All in all, not a bad gift for a sports enthusiast, nor in any way disappointing as a commemoration of a landmark season for a team that hadn’t won a World Series championship since 1954. It’s probably not bad viewing for the casual fan either, as the film’s sense of narrative of sturdy enough to be involving for those who can’t even name any of the players. That is, of course, unless you’re a Rangers fan.
Bonus Features
As the feature itself is only about 50 minutes long (which is just about right), the disc also contains a number of key moments from the season as they were originally broadcast (including several key home runs). There’s also a photo gallery, some spring training footage, and a Coors Light (?) time lapse.
"The Magic Inside" is on sale January 11, 2011 and is not rated. Documentary, Sports. Directed by Major League Baseball. Written by Jeff Smith. Starring Aubrey Huff, Cody Ross, Tim Licencum, Duane Kuiper.
