"The Sandlot" recaptures the magic of being a boy in the 'Burbs with nothing to do all summer but play baseball. These boys had big dreams and bigger imaginations, the latter of which is put to the test by a nightmare of a beast, a giant dog who devours baseballs and puts abrupt endings to one too many ball games.

This is so refreshing because the only real problems the boys have is figuring out how to get their Babe Ruth autographed ball back from the ball chewing monster behind their outfield fence. There are no earth-shattering personal or family problems to be seen. This is light-heated fare. The nightmarish vision of the beast turns out to mostly be a fabrication by the boys' and their tale-telling exaggerations. However, the director supplies us with images of a monster instead of just a large dog, which recreates the boys' fears for the viewers' eyes. This one ends happily for the sandlot crew, perfectly capping the adventures on their own field of dreams.